• Name: When the Sun Comes Down to Us
  • Caption: This image is based on my pastel drawing "Aurora at Armagh Observatory" (original size 841 / 594 mm), which I drew in 2003. It figured on Armagh Observatory’s 2003 Christmas Card, and it was also published in a few magazines, including “Stardust”. The original drawing is now owed by Armagh Observatory and it is located in its entrance hall. I drew this piece of astro-artwork because for two occasions, once in October and once in November 2003 I was so lucky to witness the most beautiful thing I ever saw in my life: the aurora. This most colourful and dynamic phenomena followed two strong coronal mass ejections that hurled towards the Earth after the maximum of Solar Cycle no. 23. About 2-3 years after each solar maximum there is the best chance to see low-latitude auroras, for two reasons: one is because at that time, the Sun’s active regions are the strongest throughout the 11-year entire cycle, having the strongest magnetic field and therefore producing the most energetic phenomena; second, because the active regions are becoming closer to the Sun’s equator, therefore the chance that a strong explosion will come in the plane of the Ecliptic towards our planet is the biggest.