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A WEXFORD MAN caught the pictures of a lifetime when he returned home from a 15-hour shift to see the Northern Lights in his back garden.
Gary O’Flynn, who lives Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, has been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis twice in the last two weeks and managed to capture some pictures of his experience when doing so.
Although clouds can often obscure the breathtaking green, and sometimes pink, blue and purple aurora borealis, on a clear night and with the right conditions, the lights can be seen from multiple locations around the country.
O’Flynn told The Journal he uses an app called ‘Glendale‘ to track his chances seeing the sky show and has been tracking their whereabouts for the last few years.
Two weeks ago, O’Flynn managed to catch a glimpse of the lights – albeit, through the lense of his camera – and caught some images of the event to remember his achievement.
However, after returning home from a 15-hour work shift on Sunday, the app had alerted that the status to see the lights was ‘Red’ – meaning conditions were clear and there was a high chance to see the Aurora again.
And while there’s never any guarantee you’ll see the natural light show, the coming equinox – when the sun crosses the earth’s equator – can give Ireland a better chance than normal.
While O’Flynn said it is very rare that you can see the lights with the naked eye, the conditions in the Earth’s magnetic field and the tilt of the planet during the equinox makes conditions better explains David Moore, editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine.
Moore said: “If the sun’s very quiet that day, then we’re not going to get the aurora, but even if there’s a modest explosion on the sun during the equinox, it can lead to a display of the aurora.”
“The equinox increases the chances, rather than guarantees you seeing it,” he added.
Moore told The Journal that he has seen the lights multiple times in Ireland and has previously led four tours to the arctic circle in Norway to show hundreds of people the aurora up close.
Astronomy Ireland is a non-profit group for members of the public who are enthusiastic about space. The group also hold events, such as their Saturn Watch event, happening tonight in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin.
O’Flynn said “everything has to be right” to get a chance to see the lights, and regularly will check the percentage of the moonlight, how clear the sky will be at night and uses the app to estimate if he will get a better chance at seeing the aurora.
He said he’s found between September and March to be the best period for people in Ireland to see the lights, but added that the best chance to see them clearly would be through the lense of a good phone camera or DSLR camera.
BBC News reported yesterday that over the coming nights, with the right conditions, those in Northern Ireland might get the chance to see the lights for themselves.
Asked if he was going to head out to see the lights again, O’Flynn said his father once told him: “You’ll never get the same picture twice.”
That being said, O’Flynn will still continue to monitor the skies and be on the look-out for a chance to capture some pictures of the Northern Lights once again.
Moore says Astronomy Ireland runs an aurora alert service for Ireland – posting every afternoon what’s going to happen in the sky that night, including the aurora.
He says the aurora can be seen at any time of the night, sometimes all night, sometimes for just an hour or two, and adds: “The sun goes through cycles of activity every 11 years, and it’s due to peak in 2025 – so the next few years are actually very good for seeing the northern lights.”
Includes reporting from Press Association.
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Bad batch of illegal narcotics is being made out like a bad batch of pasteurised milk or baby food. These are drugs that have been mixed with anything and everything .
Step up the war against drugs, don’t appease them.
@Edward Vanderlee:
How is the war going ?
50+ years now.
@Edward Vanderlee: The war on drugs has been a complete and abject failure and the world has thankfully started to move on to different approaches. It’s not about rewarding or appeasing users and sellers, it’s about reducing harms to society as a whole. You may not particularly like or approve of the introduction of supervised injection centres, but I for one applaud them as a lesser evil than shooting up in alleyways and laneways in broad daylight. Get with the times, boomer.
@Kevin Collins: it’s also about Not punishing people who end up mostly through no fault of there own in addiction and or with mental health problems. We wouldn’t jail someone who had cancer but the jails are full of addicts. #childhoodtrauma
@T Paul Kelly: its not going well but it’s 100% the right thing to do.
I live a short walk from Thomas Street in Dublin. The amount of addicts in that area is terrible, publicly injecting.
No society should normalise that.
Support the addicts and jail the dealers.
@Edward Vanderlee: It’s not going well but it’s the right thing to do ? Think about that statement. The answer is counterintuitive but unfortunately we all have to wait for the less agile thinkers like yourself, to catch up with the rest of us. Then we can finally start changing policy, making a difference and saving lives.
@Declan Doherty: no need to resort to insults now Declan. I’m perfectly agile mentally.
I saw three people injecting eachother in the entrance of a hotel the other day on my way to work.
Those poor people. The poor gardai trying to police it too where the courts are a revolving door.
Nothing ageist about it… that’s not acceptable in any society.
I’m in the hostels and there was three deaths in my hostel alone while that batch was going around and I know of good few who died. Why has there been no reporting on that?
Would the author of this piece care to find out how many died during that bad batch?
Or are we too woke to print that kind of thing?
@Denis Rathsallagh Brady: how is that ‘woke’ in any way? Didn’t they have an article a week or two ago detailing a number of deaths to that point if i recall, do you not believe them or something?
@Setanta O’Toole: I obviously didnt read that article but it would be helpful if the figures were put into this article too.
Ive even given them the number for Merchants Quay Ireland.
You sure it was deaths due to this bad batch and not lives saved by Naloxone?
I mean, one knows the risks. Choices
Have to say well done to the department of health who see the value of harm reduction ( eg festival pill testing) – pity the Department of Justice seem to be trapped in the dark ages.
Here ill help you out.
Heres Merchants Quay phone number wont take you a minute to ring them.
(01) 524 0160
The police forces knows who are the dealers, yet no one is getting locked up
@Dominic Leleu: locking up those who do drive is counterproductive. We have overflowing prisons at the present time and you want to add more??? rehabilitation, awareness campaigns though workforces, schools, PLC colleges, 3rd level etc is the way to go.
@Dominic Leleu: forget the typo lol meant drugs not drive lol
@alan scott: those are mere bandages… As long as we have a drugs policy from the 1980s the only outcomes will be rich mob bosses and endless, needless death and crime.
Need to give it to lecturers and staff at all the third level colleges.
Hilarious that anyone thinks our rightwing government cares about saving lives.
80th worst healthcare system in the world.
75k homeless
Drugs policy from the 1980s, which is enriching gangs and killing the sick.
Suicide epidemic
Etc.
We – as a people – are far more likely to throw babies in a septic tank than help the poor and sick.
@Chris O’Brien: Multiple-choice question.
Are you:
a. deranged?
b. delirious?
c. profoundly delusional?
d. lying?
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