DONEGAL could pull in tens of thousands of extra tourists if they market the Northern Lights – the amazing and famous solar phenomena.
This year’s could be the most spectacular in a decade because of a peak in the sun’s activity.
The celestial light show appears as ghostly, wispy rays of greenish and whitish colours dancing across the heavens.
Local astronomer and donegaldaily.com contributor Brendan Alexander is hoping for some clear night skies over Donegal in the next few weeks.
“It’s definitely worth seeking out,” he said.
“It’s an event that – especially on these shores – is so rare.
“But we are lucky to live just north enough to experience it – any country further south than us won’t be able to see it. It’s certainly something tourists would come to see.”
The sun has a “heartbeat” every 11 years or so – known as the solar cycle – and when it erupts, charged particles blast into space and are sucked into the North Pole.
These explosions react with the earth’s atmosphere, sparking great swathes of coloured light over the night skies, known for centuries by native north Americans as the Dance of the Spirits.
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