Northern Lights return to Ireland displaying brilliant colors in night sky- VIDEO

Irish photographers capture a spectacular Aurora Borealis display

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The Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis at the Giant's Causeway

Photo by Martin McKenna

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The Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis, were once again clearly visible over parts of Northern Ireland on Monday night.

According to the Donegal Democrat, local photographers were tipped off by the Donegal Weather Channel about the spectacular lights show.

Martin McKenna, a local photographer from Maghera, Co.Derry, who captured beautiful images of the Northern Lights on the Co. Antrim coast, told SpaceWeather spotter it was sublime.

It was: “the best I have seen here since 2005 with vertical green pillars of light some 60 degrees high accompanied by amazing pulsating/flaming motions like the beating of a heart which was jaw dropping. We could even see the beams reflecting on the ocean forming their own glitter paths – what a night!!”

McKenna and his girlfriend went aurora hunting as a mass of particles and magnetic fields ejected from the Sun hit the Earth's atmosphere causing a geo-magnetic storm.

According to Northern Lights Centre, the bright lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding.

Researchers have established that auroral activity roughly peaks every 11 years, with the next peak period expected in 2013.

This video was captured at Aurora from Horn Head Co.Donegal on Monday:

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