Erris at Night

Erris at Night Community organisation dedicated to showcasing the environment, maintaining dark skies, and reducing light pollution, based in Erris County Mayo.

Light pollution is the ONLY form of pollution we can end with the flick of a switch... so why not?!

So long to the Summer 2026.... if you're a meteorologist that is 😆💭☔️📊📆The idea of summer lasting from June 1st - August...
31/08/2026

So long to the Summer 2026.... if you're a meteorologist that is 😆💭☔️📊📆

The idea of summer lasting from June 1st - August 31st every single year is just a little too..... perfect, no? 🤔

If you're like us here at Erris at Night, drawn in by the fascinating fluctuating chaos of the natural world and every unreliable thing in it, you'll know that having a whole year on Planet Earth broken up into just 4 seasons is kinda limiting, and its not really real or representative, especially not for the wildlife who live with us here...

Astronomical summer just makes more sense. It's the way of the old Irish calendar, the wheel of celestial celebrations, kicking off with the longest day solstice around June 21st and ending on the equinox, around Sept 22-23, when night and day both get equal time in our day. Its all about the tilt, our position to the Sun, not exactness and comparing charts.

So if you're a meteorologist (or meteorologically inclined) its so long to summer 2026!

And for the rest of you, carry on as you were, you've got around 22.5 days left to relax and enjoy 😆💭🍺🏝🩴

Photo of the last sunset of meteorological summer at Canal Bridge in Belmullet. This placid body of water happens to be Irelands only sea canal!

Cirrus horseshoe vortex cloud spotted in the skies near Achill Island, 26/08 😍The cloud of ice crystals may have hit som...
29/08/2026

Cirrus horseshoe vortex cloud spotted in the skies near Achill Island, 26/08 😍

The cloud of ice crystals may have hit some turbulence around 20,000ft up and curled over itself in the breeze, before this serene scene unfolded. We see her back-lit by sunlight from just below the horizon, and floating along over Cross Beach, Erris, County Mayo.

Sometime refered to as Angels Wings, these soft, streaked shapes move fast, whipped whispy by the wind. This strange, glowing Phoenix-looking horseshoe vortex lasted only a minute or two before pulling itself apart, strand by strand, like some kind of cosmic cloud candyfloss and disappearing into the inky night...

Wider sky photo in the comments for context.

There's always something to see. Eyes on the skies!

Don't forget our Full Moon Moon Walk TONIGHT at 10pm on the beautiful Mullaghroe Beach on the Mullet Peninsula, Erris, C...
28/08/2026

Don't forget our Full Moon Moon Walk TONIGHT at 10pm on the beautiful Mullaghroe Beach on the Mullet Peninsula, Erris, County Mayo 😊

After all the excitement of the last few weeks, from last months cloudy solar eclipse to last nights stunning lunar eclipse, and the MANY fascinating weather phenomenon we've been spotting in our skies lately, we've got A LOT to talk about while we walk our usual route 😉💬👣

Its been a busy week. Need an hour immersed in nature, sheathed in the inky August darkness, strolling at your own pace, in the wonderful company of friends and neighbours? If so, see you there 😊💭👣🌌

A bit of Atlantic cloud cover couldn’t stop us! ⛅The skies over Erris parted just enough this morning to catch this shot...
28/08/2026

A bit of Atlantic cloud cover couldn’t stop us! ⛅

The skies over Erris parted just enough this morning to catch this shot of the partial lunar eclipse near maximum. Absolutely magic to watch the celestial alignment right over Mayo. 🌘✨

Did anyone else manage to catch a glimpse through the gaps in the clouds?

Two really interesting phenomena over Blacksod Bay are captured in this shot taken just now!First, magical moonbeams 😊 J...
27/08/2026

Two really interesting phenomena over Blacksod Bay are captured in this shot taken just now!

First, magical moonbeams 😊

Just like sunbeams, but at night, they are brighter due to todays blanket of heavy haze and high humidity! Did you see any moonbeams tonight? The legal name for these cool unexpected streaks of night light is lunar crepuscular rays 😉

Then, just below the Moon, you can see a bright silver glittering line stretching from the horizon?

That is what's known as the Moons Glitter Path, a moonpath, or the Silver Road! When light from a very low, very full moon (hanging at just the right angle) hits the waves, each one acts like a mirror, reflecting back at the viewer in a long, silver ripple! An interesting fact is, if you walked further along the beach, the silver sea road would appear to follow you... its all your perspective 😊

Living in a 'Bortle 2' area, with so little light pollution and so many unobstructed views, theres always something fascinating to see. Eyes on the skies!

Look up right now, set your alarm for the lunar eclipse later on tonight, and meet up tomorrow at 10pm on Mullaghroe Bea...
27/08/2026

Look up right now, set your alarm for the lunar eclipse later on tonight, and meet up tomorrow at 10pm on Mullaghroe Beach, Erris, County Mayo! 👣

Took these three photos in the garden just now 😊 Leave your best photos in the comments!

The Moon, taken at 9:30pm, looking south over Slievemór, Achill, 61% waxing gibbous and just 405,000 km away!Technically...
21/08/2026

The Moon, taken at 9:30pm, looking south over Slievemór, Achill, 61% waxing gibbous and just 405,000 km away!

Technically a mini-moon (or micro-moon), because its almost farthest away it gets all month, and its 6 -7% smaller, but you couldn't tell that from here!

A brief gap in the clouds last night allowed us to capture this image of the Adromeda Galaxy (M31), some 2.5 million lig...
21/08/2026

A brief gap in the clouds last night allowed us to capture this image of the Adromeda Galaxy (M31), some 2.5 million light years away, but shining brightly over Blacksod Bay! The little fluffy golden oval orb is seen floating in a sea of stars and cosmic dust 😊

The furthest thing visible by the naked eye, the galaxy contains about 1 trillion stars, double the density of the Milky Way. The light we see left the galaxy long before modern humans even existed...

Concerningly, the Adromeda Galaxy is barrelling towards us at 110km per second...

But its nothing to worry about, it'll be 4.5 billion years before it hits us, and we're not exactly planning on still being here by then 😉💭🌌🪐

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Letterkeen Looped Walk
Newport

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