Northern Lights appearance in Munster stuns stargazers — with more to come tonight

Northern Lights captured from West Cork on Sunday night. Picture: Aisling Sheehan

Stargazers across Ireland were treated with a vivid green and red glow as the Northern Lights made a rare appearance on Sunday night as a strong solar storm hit Earth. 

According to several weather reports, cracks in the Earth's magnetic shields, as well as a coronal hole on the sun, allowed a large blast of charged particles from the solar wind to trigger a G4-class geomagnetic storm. 

People along the West coast were able to see the light show, including parts of Cork, Kerry and Galway as well as Dublin and Meath. The lights could also be seen across parts of North and West Cork and as far south as Cloughduv. 

An amazing Aurora last night and while the cloud spoiled the view for many, Aisling McMahon captured these amazing photos as far South as Cloughduv in Cork! pic.twitter.com/IIGqwkXWkw

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) April 24, 2023

The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, usually occur in polar regions such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, but Sunday night’s demonstration could also be seen across several states in the US.

Northern lights captured on the outskirts of Cork city. (Picture: John Santry)

Even though it was not perfect star-gazing weather due to cloud cover, Astronomy Ireland’s David Moore told the Irish Examiner it was one of the strongest viewings of the Northern Lights, and said there was a “slight possibility” of it happening again on Monday night.

He said: “We can see them from that far, but to get one over Ireland, it's actually quite rare. And last night it came on this island — it always happens every night in the Arctic region.

“There is a slight possibility for the Northern Lights tonight to be seen across Ireland. But we don’t think it will be anything like what happened last night.” 

According to Met Éireann, the occurrence happens as a result of collisions between gas particles in our atmosphere and charged particles ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere. The colour of the Northern Lights will change due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. 

Northern Lights in the sky behind Shrone Church in Rathmore, Co Kerry.(Picture: Conor Healy)

So, the G4 geomagnetic storm makes it easier for many places in the northern hemisphere to see the colourful skies.

If you happen to capture the Northern Lights tonight, email us at [e-mail] with the photos and let us know where you took them.