The Northern Lights were visible across Ireland last night, with many people sharing photos of the atmospheric phenomenon on social media.
A stunning display of pink and green illuminations lit up the night sky for parts of the country due to a 'Coronal Mass Ejection' from the Sun.
Aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth's atmosphere around the magnetic poles.
Met Éireann said that the weather last night "provided some clear skies for a time in the north and northwest of the country, which would have facilitated viewing".
Meanwhile, the Education Officer at MTU's Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork said the display was predicted in advance based on images of the Sun.
These images showed that a Coronal Mass Ejection was "heading towards us", explained Frances McCarthy.
"A Coronal Mass Ejection is when a large amount of the outer part of the Sun's atmosphere gets ejected into space," she said.
"It can go in any direction, so we only get aurora when it heads towards us and when its magnetic field is opposite the Earth's magnetic field."
"When the charged material from the Sun arrived yesterday, it affected the upper atmosphere near the poles and made the atmosphere glow - aurora.
"The colour that we see is linked to the type of gas that is glowing, and that depends on the height of the aurora."
Ms McCarthy said that gases at different altitudes determine the colour of the aurora.
"Green is due to atomic oxygen at a height of 100 km or above, red from atomic oxygen at 200 - 300km above the Earth."
She said that aurora are more likely between March and September because the Earth's axis is "sideways" to the Sun.
"This means that the magnetic fields are more likely to interact, and this gives more energy to the aurora," added Ms McCarthy.
Ms McCarthy said 2024 was a great year for seeing the phenomenon and 2025 is also "looking good".
"Solar activity changes in an 11-year cycle and we are currently near the top of the cycle of most activity, so eruptions as CMEs and sunspots are more common," she said.
"The Sun was last this active in 1989."
In the northern hemisphere, most of this activity takes place within a band known as the aurora oval, covering latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees.
When activity is strong, this expands to cover a greater area.
