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The 2024 storm season has been the worst on record however on July 15th I got treated to a shocking surprise during a funnel hunt with very low expectations. With weak CAPE but notable surface convergence we knew we had a chance of seeing something so I met up with Colleen Webb on Benbradagh Mountain for a day of sky watching. I had just arrived and within a few minutes a funnel cloud appeared from nowhere which took us completely by surprise. It was far away to the NW and looked massive in size and even had that tornadic look, we took images of the funnel despite battling haze and obscuring precip curtains. We soon learned it had been rotating near Letterkenny in Co. Donegal over 25 miles away from our location. This was an impressive vortex and suspected landspout tornado event which was accompanied by second funnel at the same time. One page report with 11 images. - REPORT.
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Solar maximum is a time when NLCs are expected to wane in activity with the prospects of a good display being a rare event. On June 25th/26th 2024 I walked outside to check the sky and was shocked to see a vast type 5 NLC display covering the NW to NE sky sectors and directly overhead. In a panic I drove to Lough Fea where I spent the night observing what I can only describe as an epic display which rivaled the best I had ever seen back in 2009. The NLCs exhibited insane structure in the form of large whirls, knots and herringbone waves all moving in real time while casting shadows on the ground and bathing my dog and I in eerie blue light. This was a spectacular experience and to make things more interesting scientists reckon the 2022 Hunga Tonga undersea volcano seeded the Mesosphere with water droplets causing this NLC storm. One page report with 23 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
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While in a reflective mood I decided to take a trip back in time to June 18th/19th 2009 during the most prolific Noctilucent Cloud season I've ever experienced thanks to a deep solar minimum. NLCs appeared after 23.00 and were already impressive and I was outside taking images from the Maghera countryside where I lived. The sky turned overcast so I returned home then at 01.00 I went outside to check the sky, large clear sectors had suddenly appeared and within these was the most spectacular NLC display I've ever seen in my life. I grabbed my camera, ran through the estate into the countryside, hurdled a fence and ended up in a field where I set up my camera in a complete panic. The NLC show which followed was the stuff of dreams, casting shadows on the ground, hampering my vision, sporting huge complex whirls and unknown structures complimented by purple, blue, sliver and surreal gold colours visible in high contrast during the darkest time of the night. This account brings this experience back to life featuring my original words from that unforgettable night along with a modern perspective. One page report with 22 images. - REPORT.
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May 21st 2024 - I teamed up with convective forecaster Owain Rice to intercept thunderstorms on a convergence zone near Omagh. After hours of waiting we got thunder however the storms became outflow dominant and unphotogenic. We chased E back into clear air and strong solar heating intercepting a new cell with a menacing base. Later in the day random events had conspired to bring us to Ballyronan Marina along with Nigel McFarland and Colleen Webb. Within min's of our arrival a stunning thunderstorm erupted after 5pm taking full advantage of over 1000j/kg of CAPE, the storm developed a stunning overhead anvil like a volcanic plume with anvil thunder, in fact, the storm produced thunder for an hour with over 340 discharges. We got to enjoy this spectacular photogenic storm in sunshine with the anvil back-lit by the sun with crepuscular rays fanning through the thunderheads, what a day this was! One page report with 16 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
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May 20th 2024 - This was a day not to be ignored with high instability on a well defined convergence zone over the far west of the country, our area of choice looked to be Co. Donegal for the best action. Nigel McFarland picked me up and together we went chasing into the target area on the Cz where huge cells and towers were constantly erupting. From our scenic elevated vantage point over looking the hills of Donegal we experienced four thunderstorms however the main storm of the day was a rain making back-building machine which produced at least five hours of constant rain/hail with sporadic lightning which caused flash flooding damage on the flank of Errigal. We had the luxury of observing the entire storm under dry air for much of the time and even captured several c-g bolts on camera. One page report with 12 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
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May 10th 2024 - Mega sunspot group unfurling six CMEs and a violent impact at 800km/sec with a Bz of -50, the result was the most severe geomagnetic storm since 2003 and we had perfect clear skies. I was located in a field at Beaghmore in Co. Tyrone beside the famous fairy tree alongside a television film crew. As twilight deepened a truly spectacular aurora manifested covering the entire sky 360 degrees. Pink, green, blue, crimson and purple rays and streamers astonished us while overhead a remarkable corona dominated the sky. This corona took on the forms of birds and even a giant Angel, the display washed most of the stars from the sky and even appeared on the southern horizon. I observed it all night long and obtained my finest astro time lapse of my life. This was easily within my top five aurora experiences ever and a night never to be forgotten! One page report with 34 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT.
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Skywatchers be on high alert for an extremely rare event which might happen in 2024, in fact, it could happen tonight! I urge you to check the constellation of Corona Borealis 'The Northern Crown' every clear night, even several times a night. Located at the SE (lower left corner) of the star Epsilon is a faint star called T Coronae Borealis or TCrB for short. This famous star, sometimes called 'The Blaze Star' is in fact a dramatic example of a reverse Nova, normally this star sits around mag +10 and can only be seen in large binoculars or small telescopes, however at periodic intervals spanning roughly 80 years this star suddenly flares in brilliance and becomes a naked eye Nova peaking at mag+2 breaking up the familiar pattern of the Northern Crown.
Previous outbursts occured during May 1866 and February 1946 with historical records highly indicative of earlier eruptions in ancient times also. The consensus is that this star is ready to erupt again at any moment. Predicitons favour Spring 2024 give or take several months but in truth no one knows for sure when it will happen, however based on previous eruptions the next one is imminent, if this happens we willl be witnessing a truly rare event and the brightest Nova in our sky since 1975.
To the naked eye a Nova looks like a new star has suddenly appeared in the sky but what we are are actually seeing is an old star going into outburst. This typically happens in binary star systems when we get a red giant with a smaller white dwarf companion orbiting around the parent star. Over time the smaller star captures material from the host star, if we could see it happening it would look like a tear drop of sellar atmosphere connecting one star to the other. Eventually a threshold is reached and a thermonuclear eruption takes place causing the white dwarf to increase in magnitude making it visible to the unaided eye.
The rise to mag +2 (Polaris) can happen extremely fast, over several hours, so it's possible the event could happen in the course of a single night where it will peak at its brightest before a slow decline sets in, so in order of having a chance of catching it in the act observers will need to be dedicated and vigilant. Corona Borealis will be well placed for the rest of the year, all one has to do is check the lower left corner with your naked eye any night the sky is clear and get in the habit of doing this often, you never know, you could be the one who witnesses this Nova as it takes to the stage, what an experience that would be.
If you are not familiar with variable stars and novae then google the subject, or better still read Leslie Peltier's Starlight Nights, he has a wonderful chapter dedicated to these stars and to his quest to see TCrB erupt, it's well worth reading. I wish you all clear skies and happy hunting. Check out the chart above from Sky & Telescope.
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My first chase of the new year. On January 17th 2024 I woke to a frozen world with -4C temps and a layer of snow, trusting model guidance I drove north after sunrise to get into a better location for snow showers and instability. During a break in Garvagh a large convective snow cell approached from the coast and began making its way inland towards me. I got the drone in the air and for the next 30 min's got treated to an impressive sight of this mean cell dropping dramatic snow curtains across the Winter landscape. This was followed by a visit to the north coast where I obtained aerial footage of Binevenagh covered in snow with spectacular low cloud and fog covering the peaks complimented by a glory. This turned out to be a highly rewarding and photogenic Winter chase. One page report with 22 images and 2 video clips. - 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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