Watch: Stunning shots of Aurora Borealis at Beaghmore Stone Circles near Cookstown
On Sunday night, the night skies over some parts of Mid Ulster were illuminated by the Northern Lights, and John Fagan says it was the best yet.
The photographer has recorded over 30 of the Auroras in this part of the world.
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Hide Ad“This was by far the most spectacular yet, the skies were filled with amazing colours and thankfully I was lucky enough to get a few good shots of it at Beaghmore Stone Circles and Lough Fea,” said John.
He believes that the Sperrins offer some of the best locations for capturing the night skies.
“Beaghmore is a stunning location, it is really beautiful at any time of the day or night and because it is so far away from any towns, there is no light pollution, so it means that the Aurora was much more visible compared to other places.
“Lough Fea is the same, there is no light pollution around, so it was another great location.
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Hide Ad“I know there were quite a few people out across the country on Sunday night trying to photograph the Aurora, but I was the only one at Beaghmore.”
Like many hobbies, the 30-year-old says chasing these celestial phenomenons can be frustrating.
“Yes, I have been doing this for around five years and a lot of the times you don’t end up with any decent photographs.
“We depend on forecasts from experts, but there are so many factors which can go wrong and it can be a bit frustrating, but when you get a night like Sunday night, then it all seems worthwhile.
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Hide Ad“I was out from about 8pm and you could see the lights, but it really took off in a burst from 9.30pm.”
The colourful phenomenon was visible in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but was also spotted as far south as Anglesey and Oxfordshire in England.
Aurora Borealis occurs when electrically-charged particles from the Sun enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
Forecasters had predicted a solar storm and good conditions for Aurora Borealis, and sightings of green, pink, purple, red and yellow lights were reported for several hours.
If you would like to share your photographs of the Aurora Borealis with the Mid Ulster Mail please email [email protected]