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WE ARE IN for a New Year’s Eve treat this year, with experts forecasting that the Northern Lights will likely be visible across large parts of Ireland tonight.
Here’s how to maximise your chances of catching a glimpse.
According to Professor Peter Gallagher of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, several prediction models are showing that the Northern Lights will travel across at least half of the country tonight.
The lights may be visible from about 6pm this evening until approximately 3am the next morning.
However, Met Éireann is predicting cloudy weather for the same period, which will impact visibility of the aurora.
The clouds may break up during the early hours of New Year’s Day though, so keep an eye on the sky after the clock strikes midnight.
If you really want to do your best to see the lights, the best thing you can do is get away from light pollution. That means travelling out of the city or town if you are in one.
Speaking to The Journal yesterday, Gallagher, who is also the principal investigator with the Magnetometer Network of Ireland said:
“If you live in Cork or Dublin or Galway, just get north of them.”
He did have a warning though: be prepared for an unpredictable and possibly tedious waiting period – and don’t forget to wrap up.
If you are in Dublin today, Gallagher recommended heading to Balbriggan or other north coastal regions.
And in what is a rare occurrence, the people of Donegal have the advantage in this scenario.
You may not have any trains but if you are in Donegal you will likely have the best chance of spotting the Northern Lights, given that it is the northernmost county.
And don’t forget, a smart phone or camera is your best friend.
In a lot of areas the lights won’t be visible to the naked eye but will appear on camera.
Advanced image sensors in phones mean you can now take a reasonably clear long exposure photo, which lets in more light than a normal photo and makes dark scenes brighter.
You can track the predicted movements of the Northern Lights via the Magnetometer Network of Ireland website.
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If it’s anything like the shooting stars we were predicted to see last week I wouldn’t like to hold my breath. A great country for viewing clouds if that’s your thing though.
Nothing to see here….
With the projected cloud cover
Best chance of seeing them is to go to another country. I’m very keen on astronomy but it not a great hobby to have in Ireland. Did see the Aurora Borealis when I worked on a Drilling Ship wildcatting for Oil in the Beaufort sea above Canada’s north west territories back in the seventies. Mind blowing and what we get here is a pale, literally, comparison
@gregory pym: maybe it’s the whole near far away phenomenon!
Fair play to all who see them..the clouds are on the ground in these parts.
@JP: seeing them through phones though
Will definitely not see them here, place has been in cloud cover the last few weeks
The same is likely to happen here with our largely ineffective police force, a police force that will reluctantly react at the behest of the “Minister” but will do nothing to prevent something that has happened, and is happening, a mere 200 miles away in a neighboring country that for all intents and purposes is the same as here.
“You may not have any trains…”. Patronising pr&&k.
A simple guide on how to (hopefully) get a good shot of the Aurora:
https://www.visitnorway.com/things-to-do/nature-attractions/northern-lights/how-to-photograph/
The UN must begin the legal process to expel the US from it’s structures, and following a vote, to subsequently assemble an international military force to expel the Nazi Zionist regime from Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
I’m very lucky to get to see them regularly from my living room . It never gets old. Spectacular to see.
Best Northern Lights ever! Fair play to YouTube!
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