AURORA ALERT - Small chance of the Northern lights tonight across Northern parts of Ireland
Tonight there is a chance that the northern lights may be visible in parts of Ireland with a uptick in solar conditions. As it is only a small risk driving long distance would not be worth it and the Aurora may only be able to be seen through a camera.
A CRACK IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD
A minor but long-lasting crack has opened in Earth's magnetic field. In the jargon of space weather forecasting "BsubZ has been tilting south" for the past 8+ hours. Solar wind pouring through the gap is causing geomagnetic unrest, setting the state for polar auroras on Feb. 18th.
Best chance will be over Ulster
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Tonight’s forecast
I will turn cold on Tuesday night with some isolated showers across mainly the northwest of Ireland. There will be good clear spells for many places early Tuesday night with temperatures dropping as low as -1C and highs of 3C coldest in the midlands and north, Frost and icy conditions will be possible for many areas overnight.
Cloud will then increase from the southwest before midnight with clear spells across northern parts until early Wednesday morning.
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THE NORTHERN LIGHTS AURORA
The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) are the result of electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. (Protons cause faint and diffuse aurora, usually not easily visible to the human eye.) The electrons are energized through acceleration processes in the downwind tail (night side) of the magnetosphere and at lower altitudes along auroral field lines. The accelerated electrons follow the magnetic field of Earth down to the Polar Regions where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere. In these collisions, the electrons transfer their energy to the atmosphere thus exciting the atoms and molecules to higher energy states. When they relax back down to lower energy states, they release their energy in the form of light. This is similar to how a neon light works. The aurora typically forms 80 to 500 km above Earth’s surface.
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Earth’s magnetic field guides the electrons such that the aurora forms two ovals approximately centered at the magnetic poles. During major geomagnetic storms these ovals expand away from the poles such that aurora can be seen over most of the United States. Aurora comes in several different shapes. Often the auroral forms are made of many tall rays that look much like a curtain made of folds of cloth. During the evening, these rays can form arcs that stretch from horizon to horizon. Late in the evening, near midnight, the arcs often begin to twist and sway, just as if a wind were blowing on the curtains of light. At some point, the arcs may expand to fill the whole sky, moving rapidly and becoming very bright. This is the peak of what is called an auroral substorm.
Then in the early morning the auroral forms can take on a more cloud-like appearance. These diffuse patches often blink on and off repeatedly for hours, then they disappear as the sun rises in the east. The best place to observe the aurora is under an oval shaped region between the north and south latitudes of about 60 and 75 degrees. At these polar latitudes, the aurora can be observed more than half of the nights of a given year.
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