The Best Aurora Borealis So Far

The Northern Lights at Malin Head, Donegal, on Saturday night at 10.30pm.

Wow.

Thanks Fat Frog

10 thoughts on “The Best Aurora Borealis So Far”

I guess that’s why people live there.

Heading up north this weekend and thinking of making the trip to Malin Head on Saturday night. Anyone better informed than me know the chances of seeing the lights?

mtmc on January 24, 2012 at 10:12 am said:

http://www.donegalskies.com/#!vstc3=aurorawatch

This guy also has a Twitter feed with live updates on activity. Not guaranteed every night – seems yo depend on the strength of the coronal mass ejections. You also need a clear sky so check weather reports for the weekend as well.
- John Gallen on January 24, 2012 at 11:08 am said:
  
  Cool link, thanks for that :)
- Elaine on January 24, 2012 at 12:50 pm said:
  
  Thanks man, always been on my bucket list to see the Northern Lights, hopefully this will save me a fortune on a holiday!
- Spaghetti Hoop on January 24, 2012 at 3:35 pm said:
  
  Thanks for that mtmc. Looked for the Lights in earnest on a trip to Finland years ago – divil a coronal mass ejection to be found. Donegal may be the spot.
  - John Gallen on January 24, 2012 at 5:27 pm said:
    
    “coronal mass ejection” ….it just sounds wrong :)
    - Spaghetti Hoop on January 24, 2012 at 6:15 pm said:
      
      I know. Astro-physics never really had much imagination when it came to naming things. This makes the Sun sound like a dirty old man…which she clearly isn’t.

This is a Norwegian website with fairly regular activity on northern lights activity:
http://www.storm.no/nordlys/
…and this is from America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The ‘Level’ on the right needs to be up near 8 to be seen in Ireland:
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/gif/pmapN.gif

There will be similarly strong nights tonight (Tues) and Wed eve following a sunburst early yest morning.

Thanks for that info. Will keep an eye on those sites now.