AURORA ALERT

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Aurora Alert
Yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, a coronal mass ejection (CME) and a class-M solar flare erupted from the Sun, sending material almost directly towards Earth.

This cloud of charged material is expected to arrive at Earth on Saturday night at roughly 10:30pm, but conditions within the cloud and in space can possibly alter this by a number of hours.

When to View
When it arrives, there is a small chance that the aurora borealis (northern lights) will be visible from Ireland. We suggest keeping an eye on the northern sky from 6pm on Saturday evening and throughout the night, into Sunday morning. If it appears, the aurora will have a green and/or red colour, most likely just over the northern horizon.

Where to View
Ideally it is best to watch the aurorae from a location as far north as possible, but depending on the strength of the CME from the Sun, they can be visible further south. We recommend picking anywhere that has a dark sky with a clear northern horizon. This can be a location just outside a town or city, or a dark parkland area.

Report Your Observation
If you see the aurora borealis, please let us know what you saw by emailing observe@astronomy.ie. We will aim to include reports and photographs in an upcoming issue of Astronomy & Space.

coylemj

Might keep an eye out for it but certainly won't be adding myself to Mr. Moore's junk mailing list if I see anything.

Inclusion

So Circular Road would be a good spot , not too far out from city but far enough away from light pollution?

coylemj

Inclusion wrote: »

So Circular Road would be a good spot , not too far out from city but far enough away from light pollution?

Which city are you talking about?

emo72

Inclusion wrote: »

So Circular Road would be a good spot , not too far out from city but far enough away from light pollution?

no chance there really. you need to get away from the light, you are in the middle of it there. i seen it before in lucan golf club, if i was going some place near me i would go to carton house.

sirpsycho

I'm stuck indoors for a while, but has anyone spotted any signs of it yet?

Overature

cant see anything yet, hope the clouds lift

Conor108

Can't see anything myself. Someone posted these pics on Reddit though

Not quite the same, but you can watch the lights of Katla volcano in Iceland , its in black and white, but gives good idea of what its like there.:)

http://www.ruv.is/katla/

slimboyfat

Conor108 wrote: »

Can't see anything myself. Someone posted these pics on Reddit though

Something doesn't add up there, wasn't aware that you could see the aurora through what appears to be cloud cover.

lolie

slimboyfat wrote: »

Something doesn't add up there, wasn't aware that you could see the aurora through what appears to be cloud cover.

That looks like the more common aurora streetlightus;)
Nice live view of them here http://salmon.nict.go.jp/live/aurora_cam/live_aurora_cam_e.html
Looks like we missed out again:(

paulosham

Conor108 wrote: »

Can't see anything myself. Someone posted these pics on Reddit though

I took these a couple of nights ago, there were no aurora though it was just the settings on my camera at the time and a little playing with the colour in gimp.

https://imgur.com/tShkI,wUPkv

timesnap

Some nice views were caught by Donegal Skies,the pictures slide-show.

http://www.donegalskies.com/#!vstc2=page-2

irishgeo

is this over?

The Hill Billy

Could be another on the way. See here.

irish1967

Have an incoming M9. Due to hit @5pm GMT tomorrow.

coylemj

OMG, Huw Edwards on BBC1 news at 10 just said that 'astrologers' were out looking for the Northern Lights.

I was watchng it on UPC so was able to backtrack and hear it again, he said the dreaded word!

bc dub

Had a dream I saw them the other night, quite vivid too. I'm gonna try make it come true hopefully this weekend!

timesnap

coylemj wrote: »

OMG, Huw Edwards on BBC1 news at 10 just said that 'astrologers' were out looking for the Northern Lights.

But that is why people get confused and show such little interest,better to educate than to scoff.:)

lolie your link is only showing a blank screen,is that the same for others?

paulosham

According to this http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/story/2012-01-23/solar-storm/52754706/1 it doesn't look too likely that we'll see an aurora from this storm.

jfSDAS

hi everyone,

Aurora alerts and galleries at http://www.spaceweather.com

or http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/


some other photos of Sunday night's display at http://ww.nightskyhunter.com

clear skies (we hope!)

john

muckish

From Horn Head, Co.Donegal on the 22nd Jan. 10pm to 1am
Brilliant nights viewing.

2xMcK

Any good site with cloud forecast? I would like to go north from Galway, but only if there are chances of clear sky...

popsmar

any sighting tonight ? is it worth getting into car for 10 min to have a look?

MiNdGaM3

Kp index is now up to 5. Would be worth having a peak if you're in the North, otherwise, I'd say wait a little while longer.

David09

Anyone get to see this?

I think I saw it here in Carlow earlier on. I saw what looked like a very slight pale green/whitish hue on Northern horizon.

I haven't witnessed the aurora before, so I can't be definite what I was seeing was actually it.

peterako

2xMcK wrote: »

Any good site with cloud forecast? I would like to go north from Galway, but only if there are chances of clear sky...

7Timer is pretty good.

Peter

arleitiss

Hey, I am not really into astronomy or anything, but I've always dreamed to see aurora in real life and not just on photos, I live in Dublin 1, where is closest location I could go to perhaps see at least bit of it? or is it not possible yet?

2xMcK

peterako wrote: »

7Timer is pretty good.

Peter

Thanks Peter! Good one

tomwestie

Any chance of seeing lights tonight in mayo if their is clear skies? Is charlestown a good place to view as i seen picture taken their on rte news???/ thanks any help would help:)

coylemj

tomwestie wrote: »

Any chance of seeing lights tonight in mayo if their is clear skies? Is charlestown a good place to view as i seen picture taken their on rte news???/ thanks any help would help:)

I don't think anyone can give you a defiitive answer, just go out after dark and find a clear northern horizon away from street and house lights. The further north the better, hence anywhere around Inishowen in Donegal is the ideal location if you're prepared to do the miles.

mattser

Read a letter in the Times yesterday from an eminent physician at Trinity. He was talking re. the Aurora B. in Donegal, and that same Aurora always has something sinister lurking beneath.

A few hours later Donegal gets hit by an fcuking earthquake.

Just in case anybody doubted why these guys have letters after their names.;);)

astrofud

Dave Gradwell here

I have a solar observatory near Birr. In it I image the Sun http://www.davegradwell.com I capture solar flares as they go off and I measure the Suns magnetic field. And yes I can tell when an aurora is happening over Ireland whether its cloudy or not from my magnetometer data. Places like space weather will give you a general indication much like saying its going to be cloudy over north western Europe. I have recently started a solar blog at http://astrofud.wordpress.com where I will give alerts of auroral activity and other solar goings on. There's been a lot of stuff reported in the press over the last few days that isnt correct, I've commented on these too.

btw its an M-class flare not a "class M" and there is absoloutley no scientific link between auroral activity and earthquakes

paulosham

I just checked out your site Dave, amazing images.

astrofud

Thnx Paul.

My camera's nackered at the moment so just waiting to get a new one.

DaveG

David09

paulosham wrote: »

I just checked out your site Dave, amazing images.

+1.

Bawnmore

Any chance of seeing anything up north this weekend? I saw a meetup.com group heading up from Dublin this evening until Sunday for some aurora spotting and was curious.

astrofud

Bawnmore
In short no. The Sun has returned to its sleepy norm. My http://astrofud.wordpress.com solar blog gives northern lights alerts from data at my observatory. My solar images are at http://www.davegradwell.com.
TBH dont expect fireworks. The display this week couldve been mistaken for light pollution along the horizon if you didnt know what was happenning. The images that appeared on the 6 one news of dancing aurorae were from up in the arctic.

Dave Gradwell

astrofud

I do talks for clubs, schools, scouts etc on astronomy and especially the Sun. if people are interested they can contact me thro my www.

Dave Gradwell

Iancar29

SO im back from my Abisko Sweden trip! , ONE OF THE BEST HOLIDAYS IVE EVER BEEN ON! WE wer so lucky being there perfect timing for the CME Heres some of my photos its very hard to choose but heres some of my favourites! ENJOY!









[IMG][/img]



Feel free to check out more on mo bookface... http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=631736717


AND Heres my time-lapse.. sadly some quality lost uploading to youtube but ye... im sure youll all will still enjoy it!


WATCH IN HD ON FULL SCREEN! :cool:

nuttyboy79

Great pics really beautiful

astrofud

Beautiful

DG

Lenny5

Unreal pics. That looks like the perfect holiday! Was it a skying holiday?

Iancar29

SOme more photos now on my flickr page folks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41948286@N02/sets/72157629066551505/

Batsy

The aurora was seen in parts of Scotland and northern England last week.

The first picture is of the aurora in the skies of County Durham.

The second picture is of the aurora over the famous Tan Hill Inn in North Yorkshire, on the Pennine Way near the borders of County Durham and Cumbria. The inn is the highest in England, at 1,732 feet above sea level. It once appeared in a TV advert for window fitting company Everest and, in 1995, became the first public house in the UK to be granted a licence to hold weddings and civil ceremonies.

The third picture was taken on the moors of the Pennines in County Durham.

The fourth picture was taken from the A1 near Alnwick, Northumberland.

I don't know where the fifth photo was taken.

The sixth photo was taken in Teesdale, County Durham.













http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090611/Northern-Lights-Extraordinary-display-skies-YORKSHIRE.html

MoonDancer

I just saw the aurora in Sligo about 20 mins ago!!
Get out there and have a look!

astrofud

Moondancer are you sure. All indications here is that auroral activity is low. What can you see?

dave Gradwell

MoonDancer

Yes absolutely sure!! This was bright green behind the clouds and stayed like that for 10 minutes and it's gone now. Brighter then the moon in the sky now it was so bright! It was north.

astrofud

Ok just a couple of more questions

Is it completely cloudy?
Did the glow appear under the cloud cover and appear to light up the clouds?
Did the green glow move?

Thanks
Dave G

MoonDancer

I couldn't tell you if it moved as I was in the car, but there is a thin layer of cloud.
This was one area north in the sky, low that made the clouds glow a really vibrant green colour. I was blown away!! I watch that part of the sky every night and there was never anything like this before!
Benbulben Mountain is north facing, so it was above and behind it, thats how low it was.

astrofud

OK thanks Moondancer

DG