The Northern Lights

I always thought I'd have to visit Iceland to witness the Northern Lights, but over the past few years they have been visible in Ireland.

Previously you might hear about sightings far up North in Ireland from atop a mountain with just the right coincidence of clear night sky and solar conditions.

Now, I have experienced The Northern Lights right outside my back door and it's a sight to behold, no doubt about it.

Did you ever wonder what causes the Northern Lights or aurora borealis as they are also known?

They are caused by interactions between the Sun and Earth’s atmosphere. The Sun constantly releases charged particles in a stream known as the solar wind. During periods of increased solar activity or solar flares as they are known, large numbers of these particles are fired toward the Earth.

When the charged particles reach Earth, they are guided by the earth’s magnetic field toward the poles. There, they collide with gases (oxygen and nitrogen) in the upper atmosphere.

These collisions excite the gas atoms, causing them to release energy in the form of light. Different gases and altitudes produce different colors: green and red usually come from oxygen, while blue and purple are caused by nitrogen. This glowing effect creates the shimmering curtains of light seen in the night sky near the poles, but last night we could even see them vividly in Ireland!

So that's what you see in these photos.

Incredible.

Some more shots

The shots above are the best ones, but here is a few more I took as well.

What an unbelievable sight it was.

Thanks as always for stopping by everyone

Peace Out