Second Chance of Possible Northern Lights

Donegal Skies

The Northern Lights may be visible from Donegal on Tues15th/ Wed 16th February. Read about it here:

http://www.donegalskies.com/in-the-skies

Hopefully the weather cooperates this time round. The Moon may interfere this time but it should still be worth keeping an eye out for.

Brendan
www.DonegalSkies.com

clln

Hi Brendan,any chance this could extend further south? tanx,

woops sorry,posted in haste i see from the link that it is possible but further North the better!

irish1967

Any chance you could post a link to the website that doesn't involve Flash. Not viewable via the iPhone.
Thanks

creaghadoos

thanks brendan, without your post i wouldn't have known

muckish

Look out tonight as magnetometers are showing slight increases in activity. The current auroral oval is quite strong over northern Europe. Again around midnight is the best time and the forecast is for clear skies all be it with a 84% full moon. You just never know.

Humans eh!

Fantastic, thanks for the post.
Sad I know, but seeing the Aurora was always an ambition of mine and when they were visible from Ireland last time I actually wept.
Awesome in the true sense of the word.

ednwireland

meh clear as a bell last night was seriously tempted to point the 'scope at jupiter, but had to go to bed, no aurora though !

Donegal Skies

Thanks for the heads up Muckish. I was out looking for the aurora from 23:00-00:00 last night. I wasn't sure if I was seeing the aurora or light clouds. It may have just been the last flickers of a fading display, not sure.

Experienced Aurora hunter Martin McKenna from Northern Ireland did witness an aurora display last night around 10 o'clock. Check out his report and photos here: http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Sky Events Now.html

Be alert over the coming nights, right up to Thursday, as if the weather holds up it could be promising. Check out http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Default.asp?Date=20110215 and if you’re on twitter follow @Aurora_Alerts for alerts to possible northern lights. If the Kp value is 5 or more there should be a chance of seeing them from here, as far as I know.
Fingers crossed for clear skies!!

muckish

Aurora last night in Norway! Spectacular.

december83

wow! thanks for the post, i will be keeping a look out from donegal town, hopefully see something!

ToniTuddle

Only just seeing this now!


See it pays to be not able to sleep :pac:


*rushes to front window*


EDIT: Nope nothing :-/

slimboyfat

Looking good for tonight again according to here http://www.nightskyhunter.com/Sky%20Events%20Now.html

Donegal Skies

UPDATE: 16th February

The most aggressive solar eruption since 2007 sent a colossal coronal mass ejection (CME) towards Earth on the 15th of February. Latest estimates suggest the coronal mass ejection from the 15th will arrive at Earth late on the 17th or early 18th. This will further increase the likelihood of aurora (northern lights) displays over Donegal and the rest of Ireland when this CME reaches Earth on Thursday or Friday. This event coincides with other recent solar flares meaning observers could be in for a real treat if the weather cooperates. So keep your eyes peeled and monitor the online aurora forecasts. The full Moon on the 18th will drown out fainter aurora but any display should still be impressive.

This massive X-flare was has caught up to the previous flares earlier in the week and they are expected to smash in to the Earths atmosphere tonight (Thurs) or the early hours of friday morning. This will almost guarantee some level of Auroral actively over county and prob the country.

So in the words of Neil Young.... Tonight's the night!:cool: The clouds don't seem to know that though! However keep your eyes on the Aurora forecast and keep checking for clear spells, if you're lucky you could catch a glimpse. You will have get to a dark spot away from the lights though.

Bloody clouds...... crystel clear last night when there was no Auroral activety. Typical!:mad:

Here's hoping for clear spells though!

fontanalis

december83 wrote: »

wow! thanks for the post, i will be keeping a look out from donegal town, hopefully see something!

If you don't see the aurora there's always the Mountcharles by-pass!

lkenny

Where would be the best place around Donegal/ Letterkenny 2 get the best view i wonder? The moon was really bright last night and i presume out in the wilderness would be best, away from any town lights etc. any suggestions of where to go?:)

Harps

Not a cloud here in Letterkenny all day, the moon will be a big problem though as it was really bright last night. Can't imagine the town lights will help matters either but I'll have a look out none the less

ednwireland

fontanalis wrote: »

If you don't see the aurora there's always the Mountcharles by-pass!

thats the new airport !

background on the sloar flares here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12493980

Donegal Skies

Yeah, the Moon will drown out a lot of fainter aurorae but some will still be visible. The BBC weather website isn't predicting much in the way of clear skies tonight and they are normally very good. An astronomy friend of mine recomends Horn head but anywhere that has a clear northern horizon with no light pollution along it would be good. Along the north coast would be ideal as it is looking over the sea and you will not get light pollution there!! I have LK and Derry to the north of me so if it's reasonably clear I'll head up to the north coast.

Donegal Skies

also Aurora forecasts here:
http://www.softservenews.com/aurora.htm

Watch the "real time space weather prediction" for predicted Kp numbers. The higher the Kp number the stronger the Aurora. you'll get an hour's warning of possible Aurora from it, Kp number larger than 4 or 5 may mean the Aurora will be visble here.

Also you can follow Aurora_Alerts on twitter here for predicted Kp numbers:
http://twitter.com/#!/Aurora_Alerts

and finally here is an Aurora forecast for tonight but keep checking the other sources for more up to date data:
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Default.asp?Date=20110217

fontanalis

Brian Cox had a good show on the BBC; Wonders of the Solar System. Some good videos here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlk3RmL7NHE

Clen

saw nothing at Malin anything anyone?

It'sw been on my bucket list for some time too.

muckish

Real chance of Aurora tonight. The current KP value is around 6 so it should be visible at these latitudes. And the skies look like they are going to be clear. Fingers crossed! Enjoy

irlpic

I headed out last night with the wee lad at about 11:30 to see if I could catch a glimpse of the northern lights but no show im afraid. Conditions were perfect - no clouds, no moon, a KP of storm force 6, drove to a hill top with no light pollution for over an hour etc - but no light show ...

So what went wrong? Are these websites such as Soft Serve News that give the aurora predictions unreliable or what? Im sure its more complexed than meets the eye. At least we did get to see an amazing star show.

Btw boardsies, im not knocking this thread, keep any info available posted here as it is really informative and id rather be erring on the side of caution than missing out on something unusual.

Harps

Muckish posted a few pics from last night in the weather forum..

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056196067&page=2

Only read this thread a while so had no idea to look out last night

muckish

Did you see a green glow on the horizon? Then that was it. It wasn't like the shows you see on National Geographic, so maybe your expectations were too high. The KP index does have to be high to a shimmering style show at these lattitudes, but the odd time it can exploded into a bit of activity and die down just as quickly. It's a bit of a waiting game unfortunately. You were out at the right time, and as you say the conditions were perfect. At least you got the see an awesome starry night, and I bet that alone made an impression on the wee lad. Keep trying and keep looking at the prediction websites http://www.spacew.com/
There will be post about any potential show on Boards as well no doubt so keep loking here as well. Good luck

irlpic

Thanks Muckish. We seen what youv'e described but it just looked like the lights of letterkenny in the distance to us. Your photos came out very clear. What setting did you use? I have a Cannon D400.

muckish

30 second exposure f4.0 @ ISO800. I have a intervalometer for the camera (canon 400d with 17-40mm lens) so the camera was clicking away every 40 seconds, which is handy. Allows you to watch the show as well.
I shot in RAW format and was able to adjust the exposure afterwards. The white balance was set to tungsten.

Donegal Skies

Irlpic,

I witnessed the aurora display on Tuesday night. It is dim so you need your eyes to be well dark adapted and a really clear and dark northern horizon to see it well. I viewed the display from the north coast over looking the Atlantic so it was a super dark northern horizon, there are no houses or street lights out there!! I stayed out from 20:00 to 23:15, I thought it was most active between 22:00 and 22:45.

There is a bit on what I seen:

Donegal Aurora Display

Solar activity + Bz tilted southward + Almost new Moon + Clear Skies = The Perfect Geomagnetic Storm

The above factors all came together on the first day of March 2011 and caused a day long geomagnetic storm leading to mid latitude aurora.

Tipped off by an astronomy friend as to the possible aurora display, I headed for a dark spot right on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, along the north coast of Donegal. Upon arrival at the dark site at 20:00, a steady white dome of glowing light was visible just above the northern horizon. For the next few hours, the glow varied little in terms of intensity and not much structure was visible within the aurora. However, at approximately 22:00 the glow of the aurora intensified and tinges of green were detectable within it. For the next 45 minutes, shafts of light radiated from the base of the aurora and rippled across the northern horizon giving rise to the curtain effect. The intensity of the aurora was such that its refection was clearly seen on the Atlantic Ocean. With thoughts of a 90 minute drive home and work looming large in the morning, I reluctantly decided to call it a night at approximately 23:15.

In somewhat typical fashion, my camera was out of action awaiting repair so unfortunately spectacular memories not photographs are all I have to share with you on this occasion.

P.S. I have received a stern slap on the wrist for posting links to my website. I simply didn’t take the time to read the terms and conditions when signing up (completely my fault). I apologise to anyone who thinks I was using boards to advertise myself. I simply just want to offer the people of Donegal an information source for upcoming astronomical events.

irlpic

Thanks for the detailed report Donegal Skies. I was up the Lismuladuff area between the Cross and Ballybofey. The difference in the amount of stars I could see up there was unreal compared of down in the town of Ballybofey.

muckish wrote: »

30 second exposure f4.0 @ ISO800. I have a intervalometer for the camera (canon 400d with 17-40mm lens) so the camera was clicking away every 40 seconds, which is handy. Allows you to watch the show as well.
I shot in RAW format and was able to adjust the exposure afterwards. The white balance was set to tungsten.

I'll give these settings a try for definite the next time I get a chance. Cheers.

muffler

irlpic wrote: »

I was up the Lismuladuff area between the Cross and Ballybofey.

Up the top of Drahard would be the ideal spot

irlpic

muffler wrote: »

Drahard

I heard this name before. Where abouts is it?

muffler

irlpic wrote: »

I heard this name before. Where abouts is it?

Might be spelt..."Drachard"

When you leave the Cross and go up through Lismulladuff you can turn right to go aver Sallywood direction and on to the twin towns. But instead of turning right just keep on straight and up the hill. Up near the top of this hill is known as Drachard. Its possibly even part of Lismulladuff townland. There are 2 separate roads at the top of the hill and to the left which take you into Cronalaghy.

If you were to continue on straight you would end up in Meenreagh not far from the old school/social centre. To get the best view of the skies I think you would have to go past Drachard a little and over the road to Meenreagh.

Here's a link to Drachard. if you look a little bit further north/north west you will see a wee road that turns up left at Meenahinnis. That takes you up to where "White Mickey" lived. Im sure you have heard of him. There's a fantastic unobstructed view at the top of that road.

irlpic

Thats a fresh part of the country up there Muffler. That map is a great job showing the maze of roads available up there. I'm gonna scout it out during the daytime this week and try to find a good spot. I can see this ending up in a neighborhood-watch garda callout !

muffler

irlpic wrote: »

I can see this ending up in a neighborhood-watch garda callout !

Those people never indulge in such things as neighbourhood watch. They have their own way of dealing with strangers

muffler

muffler wrote: »

if you look a little bit further north/north west you will see a wee road that turns up left at Meenahinnis. That takes you up to where "White Mickey" lived. Im sure you have heard of him. There's a fantastic unobstructed view at the top of that road.

I'd highly recommend a trip up this wee road but just be warned that even though the map may show a road continuing on through it you would really need to turn and go back downhill again as the "road" as shown on map is more of a cart track.

Actually its the road on the map that is located where you see "Gortahork". Theres a crossroads there so just turn up left (coming from the Cross direction)

When you get as far as the point marked with the red cross hair on this link I think you should turn there. Its a good few years since i was up there and the road/cart track only runs through a bog after that point. In saying that it may have changed but I doubt it.

ednwireland

no northern lights but i did see the ISS (or at least i presume thats what it was fast moving bright light)

Donegal Skies

Would there not be a bit on light pollution glow from Ballybofey, Letterkenny and Derry along the northern Horizon? I never bothered going up there to see the aurora because looking at the maps I just presumed there would be light pollution domes on the northern horizon? No doubt it would be a lovely dark sky up there for stargazing although you really need a pristine northern horizon to see the northern lights from these latitudes.

I could be wrong about the northern horizon?

Brendan

irish1967

Kinda connected I guess but if there are no clouds tomorrow evening there's a good chance to see the International Space Station. I've seen it once it's a cool thing to see. Here's the details for tomorrow night.

muffler

Donegal Skies wrote: »

Would there not be a bit on light pollution glow from Ballybofey, Letterkenny and Derry along the northern Horizon?

Possibly, yes. The only saving grace is that the towns are all at a much lower level so vertical light should be at a minimum (I think)

muckish

Auroras last night visible in Donegal. Higher Kp value predicted for tonight, so keep an eye out for breaks in the cloud and watch the northern horizon. Could be good.

Donegal Skies

After witnessing my first aurora display at the start of the month, I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw the aurora forecast charts for tonight (10/11 March 2011).

I had a very busy evening with work and the like so I didn’t get a chance to head to a dark site on till almost midnight. My camera is still out of action (like it was for my first display) so I had to get a loan of one. The weather was terrible all evening but there were only a few, very brief clear spells all evening so I headed up to Hornhead, on the north coast of Donegal hoping for the best. When I arrived at the site at 00:30, no sooner had I the camera on the tripod when an almightyfull hail shower started. Cue the mad dash for the car!! Resulting in me breaking my shutter release cable, not a problem I had a spare in the car….. Only I had no batteries for it!! Ok, so now I am limited to 30sec exposures. The shower passes and I head back out to the gale force winds only to see the only patch of sky with cloud was the north, typical!! I struggle in the wind for the next while and the cloud continued to linger to the north. I eventually packed it in after capturing this fairly poor image but working in the gale force wind, on the top of a cliff on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean was almost impossible! But Still my first, albeit poor aurora image!



Donegal Aurora by Donegal Skies, on Flickr

Details:
Time & Date: 01:30 11 March 2011
Camera: Canon 1000D & 18-55mm kit lens
Settings: 30sec, ISO 1600, FL:18mm F:3.5

As Muckish says, great image BTW, there is a great chance of aurora activity tonight. Watch the charts if your interested in seeing them and you don't mind taking on the weather.

All the best,

Brendan

gleep

These have been appearing a lot recently in the North of the country, is this unusual? I'd really like to get a chanv=ce to see them, does anyone have any tips for viewing in Donegal / Derry?

muckish

Donegal Skies wrote: »

I had a very busy evening with work and the like so I didn’t get a chance to head to a dark site on till almost midnight. The weather was terrible all evening but there were only a few, very brief clear spells all evening so I headed up to Hornhead, on the north coast of Donegal hoping for the best. When I arrived at the site at 00:30, no sooner had I the camera on the tripod when an almightyfull hail shower started. I struggle in the wind for the next while and the cloud continued to linger to the north. I eventually packed it in after capturing this fairly poor image but working in the gale force wind, on the top of a cliff on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean was almost impossible! But Still my first, albeit poor aurora image!

Sympathies with the weather last night Brendan. I only lasted 20minutes. Had to dash out the door when I saw the clear skies and and forgot my gloves. I'll probably head out again tonight if the weather looks anyway promising (not looking good yet!). Might head out to Horn Head. I see by your photo you've pulled in at the layby with the stone wall circle shelter thingy. I think it's a really good photo. Did you shoot in RAW or jpeg? I find RAW with a bit of processing afterwards will get the best results. ISO1600 is a little bit noisey. I reckon 800 is plenty. I like the clouds in front of the aurora and the hint of the upper red display.

Donegal Skies

Yeah that’s where I was, there was one hell of a wind blowing up there tho. I just done a quick pro on the Jpeg last night. Still have the RAW file there and was planning on working on it over the weekend. I pushed the ISO up to 1600 to try and pick up Hornhead. As I say I could only shout 30sec exposures cos I broke my cable shutter release up there. I would normally go a bit long like 45-60sec and ISO800 for something like and take a dark frame too but I even forgot that in the mad rush to get out of that weather. I was out an hour. If the temp is similar tonight ill shout a dark frame and work on the RAW file over the weekend.

Donegal Skies

gleep, The sun is reaching solar max in 2013. This is when it is at it most active for 11 years or so resulting in more aurora activity. Also the time of year around the equinox is best for viewing aurora so it's a pretty good time now. As for how to see them and predict when they will occur you should follow the links posted earlier in the this thread and read through the article on the aurora on these websites.

Clear Skies,

Brendan

Donegal Skies

Thought I better not start a new thread so I'll post this here:

It is now possible to see the ISS blaze across the sky every morning, twice on some occasions, up until 8th April. All you need are some clear Donegal skies! The ISS is visible as a very bright point of light appearing approximately 10° above southern and western horizons. It will travel quickly across the seemingly stationary backdrop of stars. The fact that it contains no flashing lights, red or otherwise, makes it easily distinguishable from aeroplanes. The table below outlines the times and locations at which the ISS will be visible moving across the sky each morning. It can be fun to see if the ISS passes close by to any bright stars or planets from your location, differing across Donegal. The ISS is so bright because its large surface reflects sunlight. At the end of each pass, the space station appears to vanish from the sky as it enters the Earth’s shadow, thus blocking sunlight from reflecting off it.

If the clouds part before the 8th April, why not pop outside for a few minutes to catch a glimpse of this spectacular object blazing across our skies, knowing that someone could well be looking back in your direction from the edge of space!
Details of the ISS passes over Donegal are attached.

Donegal Skies

Also you can read about the ISS passes over donegal here:

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2011/03/30/international-space-station-to-pass-over-donegal-skies-up-until-april-8th/

Clear Skies,

Brendan

Peace

Hi,

There was an article in the undo yesterday saying that the northern lights were visible at the moment from the north of the country. Can anyone confirm if they are visible?

Thanks

muffler

I read somewhere that they were seen last night at Malin Head but there will be more sightings over the next few weeks. AFAIK there is no set time or date so its just a case of watching and waiting.

Penfailed

It's been all over the radio and press recently. It has been too overcast for me to even try to spot them...I'll be keeping an eye out though. Saw them ten or eleven years ago in both Donegal and Mid-Ulster - fantastic sight :cool:

muffler

Just when I think of it I'll merge this with a thread from last year.