Northern lights display may be visible over Donegal

A northern lights display just might be on the horizon for Donegal this week. 

“The arrival of Coronal Mass Ejections from the sun will give aurora sightings tonight in higher latitude countries,” the Met Office has said. “Cloud permitting, the northern lights may be visible.”

Due to electrically charged particles colliding with the earth's atmosphere, the aurora display will be visible. Donegal is a prime place for viewing due to its location and dark night skies. 

However, it is paramount to check the forecast before going aurora exploring as many factors can aid your experience such as clear skies, low light pollution, bright moon and lack of precipitation.  In other words, the northern lights display will be visible in Donegal providing the conditions are suitable for observation.

Northerly areas containing the least light pollution such as Malin, Manmore Gap and Ballyliffin bear the best chance of an aurora display. 

The aurora is visible in the skies over the magnetic poles and it is referred to as "Aurora Borealis" in the north and "Aurora Australis" in the south. The yellow aurora is caused by oxygen molecules and the red aurora is due to high-altitude oxygen and is rare and the blue purplish aurora is caused by nitrogen.