David Moore from Astronomy Ireland said the northern lights could be on view over several nights this week.
Tuesday night is the most likely night Irish stargazers will be able to catch a glimpse of the northern lights this week, but they could be on view over several nights.
That’s according to the founder and editor of Astronomy Ireland David Moore, who urged people interested in seeing the light display to “keep checking the sky” over the next number of nights.
“Although we’re predicting Tuesday night is the most likely time for the radiation from the sun to cause this Aurora, there was actually a strong display last night,” Moore told Morning Ireland on Monday.
“It could be tonight as well and in fact, over several nights, so don’t just wait ‘til tomorrow tonight, just keep checking the sky.”
Moore said that a full moon this week may impact on people’s ability to view the northern lights and that rather than the green colours traditionally anticipated with the aurora borealis display, stargazers should on the lookout for a “grey-ish and white-ish” colour.
Green and other colours associated with the northern lights, Moore said, are brought out in colour cameras and are only usually visible to the naked eye if it’s a very strong display.
People seeing the northern lights from Ireland will probably be looking at the display from hundreds of kilometres away, Moore added, unless it moves very far south, which has happened in the past.
As a result and as a huge storm is not expected, Moore said we “might only be looking at a small glow on the northern horizon”.
“Look for a glow in the north is the tip.”
As for the best places in Ireland to spot the northern lights, Moore said that people on northern coasts had a slight advantage, as they would be looking out over the Atlantic Ocean and would not be subject to artificial light sources (floodlights etc.) that might affect the view of someone looking from further south.
Updates on the northern lights and visibility over Ireland will be available on the Astronomy Ireland website and social channels in the coming days.
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