Photo by Robyn Potts in Donegal, 11th October 2024
The skies over Donegal burst into green and red colour last night as the aurora borealis appeared.
The phenomenon could be seen from many parts of the country and even those in built-up areas were lucky enough to catch the colours on camera.
Many Northern Lights enthusiasts say the display at midnight beats the incredible activity of 10th May this year.
It’s likely to fade this Friday night, but Donegal night-sky gazers have our northerly position as an advantage.
The UK Met Office, which provides space weather forecasts, says: ” The chances of aurora remain initially, though gradually easing through 11 Oct, becoming increasingly confined to far northern geomagnetic latitudes by 13 Oct.”
Forecasters explained that last night’s activity was caused by a fast coronal mass ejection related to a large flare and filament combination that left the Sun on 09 Oct and arrived at Earth through the second half of 10 Oct.
On tonight’s levels, they said: “Initial G4-G5/Severe-Extreme Geomagnetic storms (Kp8-9) should begin to ease though day 1 (11 Oct) as the CME effects wane, becoming G1-G2/Minor-Moderate (Kp 5-6) by the end of the day. G1-G2/Minor-Moderate (Kp 5-6) are then likely early day 2 (12 Oct) with a slight chance of residual G3/Strong storms.” It will then return to a quiet-active state.
