Historic Aurora
Ireland and many other countries were gifted fabulous views of the Aurora on January 19th. A G4 solar storm, one of the highest levels of such phenomena in decades. This energy from our sun travelled at great speed to engage with particles in our atmosphere, creating a natural show of colour, movement and wonder. Everyone who got to see it must have had the biggest smiles on their faces, including me. A historic aurora of epic beauty, leaving a lasting impression of nature’s power and beauty.
Several times last year, Aurora apps’ stats indicated that an Aurora was either present or due to arrive. However, it was always raining, foggy, or cloudy. On January 19th, I was following the progress of the incoming. The sky was crystal clear, no moon, no wind, no clouds. At about 8 pm, I was outside and thought I saw some redness out toward Achill Island. Hmm, hmm, is this it? So I got my pastels and paper ready and wrapped up, as it was freezing.
First Drawing of the Aurora
My first drawing was circa 20:15. Brilliant red aurora with several white rays. The colour stretched up alongside the handle of Ursa Major. Within the red, the star Cor Coroli was clearly visible despite the depth of colour spreading in our atmosphere. I’ve put that drawing in this link. Aurora and Ursa Major.
Second Drawing of the Aurora
My second drawing (above) shows the aurora over Clare Island. A wonderful white/green Auroral Arc developed. It spanned the landscape from Inishturk (under Pegasus), which is to the left of Clare Island, to the area under Ursa Major. The Constellation Cygnus and a few of the stars in Draco were also visible through the myriad of colours and the drama of rays. One of the white rays pointed directly to Deneb. That small red twinkle above the group of house lights on Clare Island is the red blinking light atop the communication tower on Minaun Heights. That is on Achill Island, which is several miles behind Clare Island in the Atlantic.
Third Drawing of the Aurora
My third drawing shows that the auroral arc is spreading wider and splitting into a fork over Clare Island. The constellation Cygnus had moved along and lowered in altitude. An absolute crescendo of red aurora with white rays exploded over the island. Extremely vivid and jaw-dropping. The arc still spanned a great distance westward and back towards the north. To the eye, the view was changing rapidly. Link to Cygnus over Clare Island.
To the left of Clare Island, oval, soft-looking, and almost luminous white shapes appeared. They were surrounded by red. These ovals looked like comfortable pillows, hanging around in the sky. One arrived over Killadoon Hill in the east, and it was set into another red patch. There was SO much to see and almost too much to draw. I decided to stop drawing and watch. Circa 21:30
At the height of the display, the very distinctive auroral arc was bookended by two enormous, wide pillars of redness. There was a silence of joy and happiness in the air. I imagined music erupting out of the display. Softly played piano from the arc, interspaced with jazz riffs from the massive red pillars. Sometime after that, the auroral arc widened to fill the western and northwestern sky from the ocean to about 60 degrees up, and the colours dissipated. That was one superbly historic aurora. I felt very privileged to observe it and capture some of the views.
