Nightskyhunter

Nightskyhunter My name is Martin McKenna, I'm an amateur astronomer, storm chaser and photographer in N. Ireland

Big lowering under the storm which crossed the Cookstown-Omagh road on Sunday afternoon August 30th. Still taken from vi...
02/09/2026

Big lowering under the storm which crossed the Cookstown-Omagh road on Sunday afternoon August 30th. Still taken from video.

Another image of the thunderstorm over Co. Tyrone from Sunday afternoon that had appeared over the hills approaching the...
01/09/2026

Another image of the thunderstorm over Co. Tyrone from Sunday afternoon that had appeared over the hills approaching the Cookstown-Omagh Rd between An Creagan and Kildress. This was the my last storm chase of Summer, I wonder will what September and Autumn will bring.

Blue-green algae at Ballyronan Marina on Sunday afternoon.
01/09/2026

Blue-green algae at Ballyronan Marina on Sunday afternoon.

I know Ireland has Lizards and Snakes but I've never seen one before in my life, until yesterday. We where at An Creagan...
31/08/2026

I know Ireland has Lizards and Snakes but I've never seen one before in my life, until yesterday. We where at An Creagan in Co. Tyrone watching a thunderstorm approach, as distant thunder grew closer we spotted this guy on the board walk.

For ten minutes this little fella distracted us from the sky (a difficult thing to do), he just sat there on the warm wood enjoying himself. A few phone snaps, I would like to go back and get proper DSLR images another time. Likely a common sight for those who work in the area between An Creagan and Davagh/Sperrins but for me it was a real treat. This kind is called Viviparous I believe.

31/08/2026

Our storm chase ended at Lough Neagh yesterday when our storm cluster merged into a mess. However while there I got another look at the algae near Ballyronan, still bad, lough vivid green, the view from above was surreal.

Two thunderstorms captured today in a weak shear but modest instability set-up with over 1000 j/kg of SB CAPE. I met up ...
30/08/2026

Two thunderstorms captured today in a weak shear but modest instability set-up with over 1000 j/kg of SB CAPE. I met up with Colleen Web and we targeted the Co. Tyrone area, in particular the region between Cookstown and Omagh.

Storms fired over the border moving into Co. Armagh then a second cluster formed to the S of our position very slowly moving N. From near An Creagan we watched this storm approach rumbling with thunder. A chase slightly E was required to stay ahead and get in a better position away from the rain cores.

First image is the N edge of the storm where two cores where merging with a lowering. Second image the S section of the gust front. Two storms joined then later turned into a big mess so these where our storms of the day.

Good to see such an active day across the country with a selection of funnel clouds captured by others.

Also seen a wild Lizard for the first time in this country, will post a few phone snaps tomorrow.

28/08/2026

Lunar eclipse missed last night due to constant rain, didn't even glimpse it once. Happy to sacrifice it though to have seen the great partial eclipse. Onto the next.

UKV cloud cover forecast for max eclipse 5am Friday morning. Not looking good at all, however the model was completely w...
27/08/2026

UKV cloud cover forecast for max eclipse 5am Friday morning. Not looking good at all, however the model was completely wrong last night. Best chance of clear breaks is definitely far west.

Taken tonight, August 26th/27th, Nova in Sagitta the arrow captured with 50mm lens and cropped. Observed visually in 10x...
26/08/2026

Taken tonight, August 26th/27th, Nova in Sagitta the arrow captured with 50mm lens and cropped. Observed visually in 10x42mm binos with averted vision with moon one day from full. Approx magnitude +7.6 but not certain.

I didn't know it was international dog day. I normally don't recognise these things at all but today I will make an exce...
26/08/2026

I didn't know it was international dog day. I normally don't recognise these things at all but today I will make an exception.

Ella on the left and the late Rhua on the right. Happy dog day to all the dogs out there.

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