Michael Bolton
After the spectacular pictures that emerged from the Northern Lights, people in Ireland could be set for more incredible images on Wednesday and Thursday night.
The planets Venus and Jupiter will outshine all the of the stars in the sky as they pass extremely close to one another on Wednesday and Thursday nights between sunset and 8pm.
Venus is 200 million kilometres from earth, and Jupiter is nearly 900 million kilometres away from us.
David Moore, Editor and Founder of Astronomy Ireland Magazine, said he can't remember the planets being this close together in the sky.
"I can't remember ever seeing Jupiter and Venus this close in the evening sky and to have two brilliant objects so close together is bound to startle the general public as they look over in the West when the suns go down although ominous to the naked eye there is nothing to be concerned about as this is merely a light of sight the brighter of the two is the planet Venus which is actually four times closer than Jupiter, which is the dimmer of the pair.
"As you stand gazing at the celestial wonder think about how Jupiter, although dimmer, is actually a dozen times wider than Venus.
"Although the alignment is closest on Wednesday and Thursday nights with the pair roughly one moon diameter apart they will be a spectacular sight relatively close to each other for several days thereafter."
Northern Lights
The northern lights or aurora borealis were observed as far south as Dublin earlier this week in what was one of the most spectacular displays in Irish skies for years.
Some photos of tonight's display. This is the best display I have seen since March 2016.
I will have further updates through Monday as we could well possibly seen strong condations Monday night. #Aurora #northernlights #auroraborealis #ireland #sligo pic.twitter.com/5ks9iPLFdQ— Northern Lights Alert Ireland (@auroraalertsIRE) February 27, 2023
Alan O'Reilly, an amateur meteorologist who runs the Carlow Weather social media accounts, explained how people can get the best sight of the phenomenon.
"It's always very tricky trying to predict the Northern Lights.
"The best chance is probably once it gets dark, but really after 9pm, until about 11pm, but it can vary a little bit.
"A dark area is the best way to see it.
"So if you can get away from street lights and town lights, really the darkest area you can get to, is the best chance, looking north.
"The north-east is probably the best opportunity tonight, in terms of clouds cover and being further north. Any chance, just look up, and you never know."
