Rainbow skies over the Aran Islands as the Northern Lights shine bright.Cormac Coyne/Twitter
An amateur photographer on the Aran Islands captured magical photos of the Aurora Borealis this week.
Cormac Coyne, a Science and Math teacher in the school on Inis Meáin, captured the phenomenal lights as they spread over the just as beautiful O’Brien’s Castle on the neighboring island of Inis Oírr.
Speaking to Irish radio station Newstalk, Coyne was shocked at how many people had viewed his photos.
“When I went out with my camera on Tuesday morning to try and see if I could catch the Aurora, I didn't realize how much attention the photos would receive,” he said.
"I tried to capture them on St. Patrick’s Day earlier this year, but my efforts were thwarted by heavy cloud.”
His attempts were more successful this time, however, and he even managed to fit in a few of the locals in the background.
Another aurora shot from last night on Inis Oírr looking out over Galway Bay. This one shows more structure in it. pic.twitter.com/mwVvQeuV8N
— Cormac Coyne (@CormacCoyne) June 23, 2015
“I set up my camera on the tripod and manually focused it taking in O'Brien's Castle on Inis Oírr and a large portion of the sky,” he added.
“During one of the 15 second exposures I shone my flashlight on the castle to brighten it up. I even got photo-bombed with one or two cows in the field who were not too impressed to be woken at that hour and sure who could blame them.”
Coyne describes it as an “amazing feeling” to witness the Northern Lights firsthand. They’ll certainly never lose their shine with us!
H/T: Newstalk.