NEOWISE Passes over Mythical Newgrange

This photo, showing the comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE over the ancient monument of Newgrange (Síd in Broga), is one of those once-in-a-lifetime shots that I doubt will ever be repeated.

The comet was in the northern skies, and visible only in the early hours of the morning. This photograph was taken at around 2am. I had been at the nearby Monastic site of Monasterboice with my son, taking photos, and we decided to head to Newgrange. That turned out to be a great decision!

As we arrived at the public road in front of the monument, a bank of fog was descending on the monument. I knew that we would have to act VERY QUICKLY to capture some magic. I quickly grabbed the camera and tripod, and it took a couple of minutes to get set up and to adjust the settings on the camera, including shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

Within moments, the fog began to lift again. I took a few long-exposure frames, and in this one the last of the fog was dissipating, creating what I can only describe as an ethereal, otherworldly look.

The fog had briefly obscured the comet, but now NEOWISE was visible, hanging beautifully just above the well-lit entrance to the ancient 5,200-year-old tomb.

It felt in that moment as if the ancient gods and spirits of the place were moving about among the stones, and I was exhilarated. Because this was July of 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns meant that most other photographers were too far from the monument to be able to travel. I live close by, and knowing that this was a scene that would not be repeated, and there were no other photographers present, I had captured something truly beautiful and unique.

As a lifelong astronomer, who had spent many hundreds of hours observing the night sky, I can say with hand on heart that this was one of the most beautiful things I had ever witnessed, and captured on camera. It combines wonderfully two of my great passions – astronomy and the ancient monuments of Ireland.