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It's been a while since I've updated the website with the recent G3 aurora event being the last substantial sky event. The sky has been fairly quiet since with uneventful weather phenomena, however I have been busy with my Astronomical observations with the 10" F/5 Dobsonian. In particular observing all the comets within range of my scope with particular attention focused on 12P/ Pons-Brooks which has been, and will continue to be, a very interesting object with regular outbursts not dissimilar to the infamous 17P/Holmes. This comet is worthy of following nightly all over the Winter period to monitor unexpected behavior and during early Spring next year it might become a naked eye object.
I've currently working on my end of year video presentation featuring all my best weather, storm and astro footage in one compilation video, something I do every year as part of my tradition. I more or less have it completed however I just need to finesse a few things, at the current moment it's 30 min's in duration, I usually post it online between Christmas and New Year so please stay tuned for updates on that.
We have had a recent cold spell, nothing dramatic with no snow, however due to high pressure we have been getting regular frosty nights and good dry sunny days which have been a delight, and rather festive too. The above image was taken on Sunday December 3rd at sunset of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Co. Armagh on a fine frosty afternoon with banks of mist forming on the surrounding lowlands, I have a nice video sequence of this scene which you can view on my youtube channel shortly.
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We also had several nice fog inversions, this one was from Saturday December 2nd outside Cookstown. Damp, dark, freezing cold below it, but above it was blue skies and sunshine over an undulating heavenly carpet of white, any atmospheric lovers reading this will no doubt spot the glory in the image.
That's really it at the moment, I'm waiting for photogenic ice/frost/snow scenes in the future and anticipate further telescopic observing of comets and with luck more aurora displays which are very likely given how active the sun has been. The Geminid meteor shower peaks December 13th/14th and is one of the best of the year, if it's clear I will be observing. I'm also looking forward to Christmas and intend on updating with more sky news or images soon. Until then Keep looking up!
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On November 5th 2023 three CMEs impacted Earth with two of them back to back within an hour of each other. The result was a strong solar storm with a BZ of -30 which would peak at G3 (KP7) making it one of the strongest storms of the current solar cycle. After an intense 6 hour wait during daylight and a chess game studying the weather to avoid advancing cloud I decided to head E and watch the event from the wind turbines at Swatragh with Conor McDonald. As the sky cleared we were astonished to witness a rare phenomena called STEVE pulsating in the E near Jupiter which crossed the entire sky with a red beam called SARs. The aurora went into two outbursts with rays reaching almost overhead with red, orange and green colours to the naked eye. Other friends arrived and we watched with awe as nature put on a splendid show - an amazing night! One page report with 25 images and 1 video clip.- REPORT.
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I'm delighted to reveal that I have a selection of online presentations available for purchase. At the moment I have three topics available....
'A Guide To Convective Clouds & Storm Structure' - Learn More
'A Guide To Seeking The Northern Lights From N. Ireland' - Learn More
'Celestial DSLR Photography & Sky Phenomena' - Learn More
These where recorded at OM Dark Sky Park & Observatory in Davagh Forest. For an overview please check out the main Talk Page. Each talk is available at a discount price of £4.99, once payment has been received I will send you the link to the full length youtube presentation. If you are interested in purchasing a talk all you have to do is send payment via paypal to martinastro2005@hotmail.com, message me on Facebook or Twitter, or email me at the same address if you wish to use bank transfer. By watching these talks you are not only supporting me and the website but also learning first hand information about the sky with the intention of inspiring you to look up and enjoy the wonders of nature.
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Friday Sept 8th was a day with explosive potential with CAPE associated with a heat wave plume remaining inland into the early night. The atmosphere was strongly capped but by late evening temps peaked at a record high of 28 degrees C, the cap broke and an isolated multicell erupted to life in the sunset sky. As twilight deepened the W sky was dominated by this beautiful isolated storm over the Sperrins with dark updraughts lit from within by intra cloud lightning. I even captured six cloud to air bolts shooting into clear sky from the flanking updraught plume. Roisin and I watched this rare event with awe on the most warmest humid Sept night we had ever experienced. One page report with 20 images and 1 drone video. - REPORT.
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Sept 10th was the third thunderstorm day within four days over this weekend thanks to an unstable Sly HP plume event which introduced 600-1000 CAPE overlapped with 20 knots of deep layer shear. The set-up was notable for a marked surface trough and very well defined convergence zone which promised convective action across the Sperrins. During the late afternoon of a very warm and humid day the cap broke and a cluster of multicell storms erupted over the W of Mid-Ulster crossing the Sperrins. I chased to the iconic stone circles at Beaghmore with John Fagan and intercepted a large black storm rumbling over the hills for over an hour and a half. The storm then formed a shelf cloud which passed directly over the famous stone circles in lovely evening light which made for a dramatic end to the day. One page report with 17 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
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On June 25th 2023 another warm humid unstable airmass moved across N. Ireland with 800j/kg of CAPE and sufficient wind shear for multicell thunderstorms on what would be my 6th storm chase within the current thunderstorm outbreak. This time the E of the country looked best so my Wife and I drove to the beautiful Slemish Mountain near Ballymena where we met Colleen Webb and Nigel McFarland. By mid afternoon a striking Cz produced a line of convection which grew into a dramatic rotating base which dropped a funnel cloud, above this was a remarkable rock solid updraught. By evening another big multicell storm moved in with core turning parts of the country white with hail, this mean black storm had more spectacular updraught plumes. A great day out with impressive cloudscapes over beautiful countryside. One page report with 25 images and 1 video vlog. - REPORT.
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Part 2 of what I consider to be the most spectacular thunderstorm convection I've ever seen in this country on June 19th during my fourth storm chase in a row. This was the hottest June on record and the most thundery period Ireland has seen for many years. With 1000j/kg of CAPE and 20 knots DLS multicell storms were anticipated. On this solo chase I headed to the north coast and committed to that target area for the day, at first I wasn't impressed with the rubbish skies and pulse cells I was seeing, I almost went home. Suddenly during the late evening the cap broke which resulted in two remarkable thunderstorms which erupted like atmospheric volcanoes with enormous tops and stunning updraught convection. These were the most beautiful thunderstorms we had ever seen in our lives and of a caliber rarely seen in N. Ireland. One page report with 16 images. - REPORT.
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Part 1 of what I consider to be the most spectacular thunderstorm convection I've ever seen in this country on June 19th during my fourth storm chase in a row. This was the hottest June on record and the most thundery period Ireland has seen for many years. With 1000j/kg of CAPE and 20 knots DLS multicell storms were anticipated. On this solo chase I headed to the north coast and committed to that target area for the day, at first I wasn't impressed with the rubbish skies and pulse cells I was seeing, I almost went home. Suddenly during the late evening the cap broke which resulted in two remarkable thunderstorms which erupted like atmospheric volcanoes with enormous tops and stunning updraught convection. These were the most beautiful thunderstorms we had ever seen in our lives and of a caliber rarely seen in N. Ireland. One page report with 23 images. - REPORT.
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June 17th was the beginning of a major thunderstorm outbreak across Ireland in the midst of heat wave conditions. For the second time a team of us chased to Mullaghmore in Co. Sligo on an adventure to intercept 2000j/kg severe thunderstorms and we were not disappointed. For much of the day we where surrounded by high based highly electrified storms, at times with three active cells around us at any given moment. We heard more thunder this day than the last few years combined. At dusk a surprise elevated storm moved over Kesh where we got our best images of the day of c-g bolts striking the surface over this scenic landscape. One page report with 12 images and 1 video vlog. - REPORT.
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Astronomy is not the only subject I'm interested in, check out my N. Ireland Storm Chasing section and view the chase reports and images which detail not only storms but other phenomena such as a moonbows, noctilucent clouds, aurora displays and exciting nature related photo shoots.
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Martin McKenna
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