AURORA ALERT

Weylin

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.