Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

Senna · 12-06-2009 2:13am #1

Anyone ever see them from Donegal?? the reason i ask is two people i know when up to Fanad head tonight as they heard they will be able to see them tonight. Would have went up myself if i hadn't of been working, would be worth see, but i doubt they would be as bright as you see in books or tv..

I remember my father tell me he seen them from Ballyshannon when he was a kid, many moon ago.

irish_goat · 12-06-2009 2:15am

Jaysus aye! Just looked out and can see them alright though it looks like a green sunset really. Will try and get a photo.

EDIT: Can't get a decent photo. It's nice to look at but not as impressive at all as the ones you'll find by searching google. It does make the sky to the north look unnaturally bright though.

Fracture · 15-06-2009 2:24pm

I seen them around 6 or 7 years ago from buncrana. It was cool but they were only a kinda dull white colour.

Senna · 15-06-2009 4:07pm

Is it just like a glow in the sky or is there some movement to the light??

Deer Hunter DL · 19-06-2009 11:22am

seen something very like this myself last night outside donegal town

Cul a cnoic · 19-06-2009 4:41pm

I am sure it was the Aurora Borealis I seen in the northern sky last night about 2am above Annagry/Gweedore. There were large dark cloud patches present but between these and towards the north, it was much brighter and very colourful. It could have been lighter clouds or mist moving faster and above the large dark clouds but am sure it was the Aurora.

Was on my way to bed at the time and never though of getting out the camera. Will keep an eye out tonight.

tricky D · 19-06-2009 5:32pm

Aurora appear about 15-20 times a year around Donegal latitudes, but they're usually obscured by even the lightest clouds.

Another one to watch for is the Green Flash but you'd need to be lucky and/or living somewhere like Bloody Foreland facing west. Ideally, you need to be looking at the sunset over the ocean on a clear day or with the right kind of haze, preferably with the winds being still or steady and the air quality needs to be good for a hundred miles westward. As the last bit of the sun dips below the horizon, there's a quick flash of green above it. This is from light from the top of the sun bending slightly downwards due to the atmosphere, causing a change of direction which makes it appear above the sun and the light rays get refracted enough to change the colour to green.

eddie73 · 26-06-2009 3:35pm

i saw them about 15 years ago in the Donegal Town area. nice to b able to see them and say u saw them, but not as spectacular as the comet in 1997 or Mars back in 2001.

allandanyways · 02-07-2009 2:15am

So it is true? Have had 3 drunken lads tell me in Carndonagh that they saw the lights and thought the world was ending/it was the second coming etc etc.

Didn't actually believe them though. Wow, saves me a trip to Greenland to see them so.

ednwireland · 02-07-2009 9:42am

theres a church in drogheda (look for the green ones)
if you see this level of activity there's no mistaking it

http://www.mythicalireland.com/photos/ireland-photos/index.html

i saw that a few years ago - the irish times had a front cover with sligo bathed in green light the following day (cant find that though) 2005 i think

this is somewhere in the west its what i remember seeing

thats off the irish astronomy forums

pretty unforgetable

babaloushka · 02-07-2009 1:49pm

ednwireland wrote: »

theres a church in drogheda (look for the green ones)

Fabulous picture - but what has the 'church in Drogheda' to do with it?

ednwireland · 02-07-2009 1:57pm

the link i posted was of northern lights over a church in drogheda - sorry

the picture is somewhere else

North_West_Art · 06-07-2009 4:03pm

I saw them twice... once back in 1991 from College Road in Letterkenny in January, then again around 1997 from near Donegal Town, looking North.. it was the month of November as far as I remember. These were back in days before digital camera of course

Delphi91 · 08-07-2009 2:06pm

I've seen it from Limerick, oh about 8-10 years ago.....Not anything as dramatic as the photo above, but could definitely see a red (no, not the orange from sodium street lamps!) glow in the sky covering a large area and it did pulsate and change colour.

MrPirate · 08-07-2009 3:27pm

Is it possible to predict when they can be seen? I'm a bit of a noob compared to others so I apologize, but I've always had the interest in seeing this.

Wella · 09-07-2009 9:07pm

I've seen them a few times.
Best one ever was on 6th April, 2000. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Amazing.
The sky turned rad, totally red, and the landscape turned red too, at midnight. the display wasn't all red though, I saw amazing colours of green, yellow and bright white flashes too.
Pity I hadn't a camera at the time:(
I saw several other displays too, including one in 2002 I managed to photograph.
See these links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641095757/in/set-72157603282244833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641098429/in/set-72157603282244833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641928022/in/set-72157603282244833/

This is by far my fave:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2059595594/in/set-72157603282244833/

All these photos were taken near Mt. Leinster, Co. Carlow.
Pity were at the trough of a deep solar minimum at the moment, I'd say we'll not see anything like this 'till at leat, 2014 onwards, though you never know

babaloushka · 09-07-2009 10:51pm

Wella wrote: »

I've seen them a few times.
Best one ever was on 6th April, 2000. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Amazing.
The sky turned rad, totally red, and the landscape turned red too, at midnight. the display wasn't all red though, I saw amazing colours of green, yellow and bright white flashes too.
Pity I hadn't a camera at the time:(
I saw several other displays too, including one in 2002 I managed to photograph.
See these links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641095757/in/set-72157603282244833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641098429/in/set-72157603282244833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641928022/in/set-72157603282244833/

This is by far my fave:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2059595594/in/set-72157603282244833/

All these photos were taken near Mt. Leinster, Co. Carlow.
Pity were at the trough of a deep solar minimum at the moment, I'd say we'll not see anything like this 'till at leat, 2014 onwards, though you never know

Wow, those are gorgeous! So much for 'Northern' lights though, since you took the pics In Carlow

I'd really love to see these lights - it must be magical.

Dusty87 · 17-07-2009 12:44am

babaloushka wrote: »

Wow, those are gorgeous! So much for 'Northern' lights though, since you took the pics In Carlow I'd really love to see these lights - it must be magical.

If i remember correctly, it was on the news a few years back, (Not sure how many, could be 5 could be ten), that you could see them from all over ireland. Myself and my dad went out and had a look. I remember seeing just the green glow. That was on the offaly/westmeath border.

homosapien · 17-07-2009 12:53am

www.spaceweather.com

the above is a useful site for predicting when and if the northern lights may be visible..unfortunately its a bit quiet in recent years at our latitudes with the sunspot cycle at a sustained minimum at present.

there were a number of occasions during 2003/2004 when when some larger solar flares occurred and we got some impressive aurora displays...I only had a ordinary basic point and shoot camera at the time and got no pics but great memories of driving out into the countryside to see those fantastic displays..i have since bought a proper SLR and been patiently awaiting the aurora to return...and I long for the day I get to set it up some starry night with a full blown geomagnetic storm in progress!:o

just as a side note what people probably saw over the last few nights were noctilucent clouds which have made an appearance over Ireland and indeed much of Europe and The United States..these clouds are a lot lot higher than normal clouds on the edge of space and by going to the spaceweather website you will see some good pictures of there recent appearances..

irlpic · 05-08-2009 1:28am

Unfortunately this may not be the Aurora Borealis but high altitude cloud formations known as noctilucent clouds. They are most common in the summer and at times of solar minimum.
They are normally too faint to be seen, and are visible only when illuminated by sunlight from below the horizon while the lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow.
Keep an eye on the northern sky around midnight for very high-altitude glowing clouds.

Mac055 · 07-08-2009 1:33am

Saw them in Letterkenny about 6 years ago, used to live at the top of Solomon's Hill, any word of sightings in Dublin?? might be my last chance to see them before i move down under!

nanook · 07-08-2009 6:29pm

Wella wrote: »

I've seen them a few times.
Best one ever was on 6th April, 2000. I'll never forget it as long as I live. Amazing.
The sky turned rad, totally red, and the landscape turned red too, at midnight. the display wasn't all red though, I saw amazing colours of green, yellow and bright white flashes too.
Pity I hadn't a camera at the time:(
I saw several other displays too, including one in 2002 I managed to photograph.
See these links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641095757/in/set-72157603282244833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641098429/in/set-72157603282244833/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2641928022/in/set-72157603282244833/

This is by far my fave:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/enryb/2059595594/in/set-72157603282244833/

All these photos were taken near Mt. Leinster, Co. Carlow.
Pity were at the trough of a deep solar minimum at the moment, I'd say we'll not see anything like this 'till at leat, 2014 onwards, though you never know

Fantastic photos.

Saw the lights over 18 years ago in Canada. Sat on the bonnet of a car in a village called garson in manitoba.

Thanks for reviving an old memory

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)

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