7/10/15, rural Ireland and aurora

[PolygonPi]

I couldn't get to EMS4 because a cousin had inconsiderately picked that date to get married in rural Ireland, but on the plus side I was in rural Ireland for a week with a few clear nights. Now I'm not a massive fan of that part of the world, but they do have very dark skies. We were half way between the small towns Castlebar and Ballina, around 7-8 miles away, and apart from that there's just a few tiny villages scattered around. Luckily I had a bit of spare hand luggage space and packed the 7x50s.

 

The first night was the best for observing. All the rest of the family went to bed early so I was able to turn off all the lights and stare at the sky. The Milky Way was stunning - so bright and clear, with the Cygnus Rift easily visible (actually more visible without my glasses, I guess the blurring helps). Through the binoculars there are just an unbelievable number of stars, thousands and thousands at a time.

 

The Andromeda Galaxy was faintly visible to the naked eye, and really big and bright in the bins. Scanning lower I ticked off M33 the Triangulum galaxy, which I'd managed to miss up until now, as a fairly large smudgy region. They're next on my imaging list when time and weather allow. The Double Cluster was beautiful as always (although it actually seemed less distinct because the carpet of background stars was so bright), and the area was plainly visible to the naked eye which I'd not noticed before. I'm also a big fan of the Pleiades and Alpha Persei Cluster, both of which showed a lot more stars than I'm used to.

 

After that I took advantage of the good horizon to tick off M35, M36, M37 and M38 in Auriga, although I'll revisit with the scope because I couldn't see much other than smudges. The good thing about your first year in astronomy is there's always a bunch of stuff coming up you've not seen yet

 

But the best was saved until last. Looking to the north there was the faint glow of Ballina in the distance and a tiny bit of cloud, but above it a fairly bright, fairly small and thin oval of light, a bit like a headlight shining in the air. I didn't think much of it for a minute, but then had a look through the bins and saw something I recognised instantly - a distinct vertical line with a bit of a curtain behind it that was slowly moving to the right, and then split into two lines than danced around each other for a few seconds. I've seen the aurora once before in Iceland (although it took me four trips over there to manage it...) and it was the last thing I was expecting to see, as I watched the faint light grow and fade and move before finally disappearing ten minutes later. I checked the aurora forecast the next day and it had been a 5 (pretty rare) and apparently it was mentioned on the local radio the next morning, so I think I got very lucky there. Nowhere near as high or bright as it is properly up north (probably only 10 degrees above the horizon, and no colour to be seen) but very cool.

 

Our two year old niece was staying with us as well, so I took her out later in the week on another clear night. She just stared up in silent wonder with her mouth open, which was cute. Later that night she kept waking up screaming from nightmares, but I assume she's two young to be contemplating her insignificance in the face of an infinite universe, so it probably wasn't my fault

[Tweedledee]

Glad you enjoyed some good skies Andy.

[Doc]

Sounds like a wonderful place. I'm a little envious as I've still not seen even a hint of an aurora. It was a lovely read, your writing style makes for a very easy and relaxing read.

[BAZ]

A really good night there then Andy. When it all comes together it's just awe inspiring isn't it. An enjoyable read as well, and you may become the favourite uncle in the future.

[PolygonPi]

I'll be doing my best to encourage a love of the night sky in the little ones, so we'll see how that goes!

 

As I mentioned it took me a good few attempts to see the aurora. I was in Iceland twice on my own at conferences and it was cloudy both times, so no luck there. Then I took my wife over, and we went on two aurora coach tours - one we never escaped the cloud, and the other just nothing happened. Then a couple of years ago we went again with my parents, and hired a car. As we drove out and just escaped the lights of Reykjavik the conversation literally went,

"Keep a look out, and shout if you see anything greenish and cloud-like."

"You mean like that on the left?"

"...yep, that'll be it..."

 

Sometimes you work hard for ages with no result, and sometimes things just fall on your plate...