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A new year of sky action has begun...
| 2025 began in great style with a G4 geomagnetic storm and SARS arc on New Year's Day followed by a sublime Venus-Moon conjunction then a week long cold spell which brought numerous snow showers and severe frosts. I spent three days on the hunt for Winter photo opps covering convective cells with snow curtains to frozen lakes, however it was January 9th which stood out as exceptional with freezing fog and -7C temps. We encountered beautiful hoar frost scenes in Omagh with trees covered in frost so thick it took on the appearance of snow. Frost covered everything and with blue skies and sunshine we obtained our finest images of the season. The chase converged on Gortin Glen Forest and lakes at sunset where I completed filming of Chronicles Of The Sperrins for the BBC which was a perfect end to the day. Two page report with 39 images and 1 video clip. - PAGE 1, PAGE 2. |  |
| During the pre-dawn hours of March 14th 2025 the moon would experience a total lunar eclipse with maximum eclipse taking place at or shortly after moonset making for interesting viewing conditions. Expecting to deal with cloud I woke at 5am to a perfect clear sky which amazingly stayed clear for the entire event. Ten minutes later the first umbral bite appeared on the lunar disk and the eclipse was under way. I watched the event from my front garden among a light frost in almost perfect conditions. As the eclipse advanced the moon took on a thick crescent phase with a dark red umbral shadow weakly illuminating the lunar mare. The view in binoculars was beautiful with the red moon against a deep blue morning twilight complimented by the dawn chorus which made for a very pleasant observing session. One page report with 7 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT. |  |
| Spring has arrived with much anticipation and despite a fairly quiet period of sky action things began to change thanks to increasing instability, moisture, the stirrings of the solar wind with a newly discovered comet. On April 28th Colleen Webb and I experienced our first convective cell of the season passing over Lough Neagh bringing a dense precip core and outflow winds which broke in the storm season. On April 4th I did an all night watch at Lough Fea catching several aurora outbursts including one with naked eye rays 30 degrees tall. That morning I was overjoyed to make a visual obsv of a new comet designated C/2025 F2 SWAN visible at 4am in Pegasus. One page report with 13 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT. |  |
| N. Ireland was enjoying a fabulous spell of prolonged high pressure weather with clear sunny days and not a drop of rain anywhere. This was when a major outbreak of wild fires began across the country, beginning with the Mournes then Donegal, then on April 7th 2025 a big fire rapidly formed on Sawel mountain within the Sperrins. I raced to the scene to document the event with friends however the fire was well under control by the time we arrived. Despite this we still got footage of the scene and the day ended with an atmospheric Saharan dust sunset when the hazy Sperrins looked like sand dunes in a desert. Little did I know that more major fires where to come on the days ahead and this time I would capture them during their prime. One page report with 6 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT. |  |
| A major outbreak of wild fires has been making the news across N. Ireland with 250 fires within a week, most were deliberate. On April 8th 2025 I had intentions of shooting the sunset when suddenly reports arrived on social media of another major wild fire near Ballygawley. I took the chance and drove to the scene to document the event, the fire was massive and over one mile long and wider than any I had seen before with multiple sources. The wild fire was burning near wind turbines and was rapidly approaching a house forcing owners and their pets to evacuate while 45 fire crew with 29 appliances battled the blaze working all through the night with a fire that was as dramatic as it was dangerous in the light of the setting sun. One page report with 22 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT. |  |
| Just when I thought I wouldn't experience another wild fire on the scale of Ballygawley I was proven wrong on April 10th 2025 when I spotted pyrocumulus in the sky which correlated with online reports of a gorse fire in the vicinity of Lough Fea near Corrick Road. I drove up for a look not expecting anything major until I arrived at the scene and got the drone in the air for a better look. I was astonished to witness a massive fire in progress burning trees and bushes with multiple sources covering a very large horizontal extent. The scene was spectacular yet terrible in equal measure while almost 50 fire fighters tackled the blaze to bring it under control. This event was followed by another fire on Glenshane Pass for the next two nights when we made an attempt to film the fire at night with the drone. This marks four wild fires filmed within five days making this one of the most active fire seasons in years. One page report with 17 images and 1 video clip. - REPORT. |  |
Martin McKenna
