This week, with a clear sky and a lot of luck, Irish people could get the chance to witness the spectacular Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights).
The video above was captured in the city of Rovaniemi in Finland's Lapland, where it can be very intense, even to the naked eye. In Ireland, this far south we see them a hundred times less often so that makes them all the more special.
Photographs taken by special aurora cameras often show colours, especially green but to the naked eye the aurora is usually colourless or white/grey. Only major displays can stimulate the human eye's colour response
"It has to be said the aurora is 'likely' but not guaranteed. Also, the strength of the display is practically impossible to predict. It may be a small whitish glow on the northern horizon but there is a small chance that bright rays will dance all over the sky," according to David Moore of Astronomy Ireland.
With so many variables Astronomy Ireland want the general public all over country to check the north sky in particular as often as possible from dusk until dawn starting Monday until at least Wednesday so that they can compile a full report.
You can listen back to David's interview with RTÉ's Morning Ireland from Monday here.
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The Northern Lights are caused when billions of tonnes of radiation is spewed out by the Sun in the direction of the Earth. These days we have satellites monitoring the Sun 24/7 and we usually get 2-3 days notice when an outburst is headed our way.
This is what has happened and significant activity was expected Tuesday, but there is a chance it could happen Wednesday too.
People can follow the story on Astronomy Ireland's social media (@AstronomyIRL and facebook.com/AstronomyIRL) and watch out for their posts as they monitor the situation closely.
