The 12 days of Solstice - Day 2 - the golden glow of a beautiful winter sunset at Newgrange

Today is the second day of my new series of Newgrange photographs entitled 'The 12 days of Solstice". Today's image shows Newgrange in winter at around sunset. The sun has just disappeared below the near horizon, but its golden glow is still very much visible. The winter days are short in the Boyne Valley - in midwinter, the sun rises shortly before 9am and sets before 4pm. This dearth of light and heat reminds us how difficult life might have been around solstice in the Neolithic, and how important the turning of the year was to the builders of these huge monuments.

As a photographer, I enjoy the special light that happens at sunrise and sunset in winter. Even when it's cold, and maybe your hands are numb from holding the camera, the golden glow of the sun helps to warm the soul. Sunrise and sunset are very special times, and provide the observer with a moment of exhilaration and gladness. One can only imagine that the builders of Newgrange experienced  similar moments of bliss punctuating their lives as they grappled with some meaning behind their own existence.

For an explanation about the inspiration behind the new series of photographs, see this post:
http://blog.mythicalireland.com/2016/12/celebrating-winter-solstice-season-with.html

Early plans, drawings and photographs of Newgrange by Irish scholar and archaeologist George Coffey

The entrance of Newgrange as it looked before the 1960s excavation and renovation, but long after the entrance had been rediscovered by Charles Campbell's labourers in 1699. Featured in George Coffey's RIA paper and reproduced in William C. Borlase's Dolmens of Ireland (Vol II).

George Coffee's plan and section of Newgrange from his RIA paper as featured
in Borlase's Dolmens of Ireland (Vol. II)

A section and plan of the passage and chamber of Newgrange by George Coffey.

Mercury and Venus in the twilight above Newgrange

Venus and Mercury in the twilight over Newgrange. Click image to see larger version.

I spent a nice time this evening on Redmountain, across the Boyne Valley from Newgrange, watching for a rare sight. Both Venus and Mercury were visible in the twilight, but with Venus lower to the horizon and Mercury higher up. It was a beautiful June evening, following a glorious warm sunny day here in Ireland. I caught a glimpse of both planets from my home at around 10.30pm and decided to head out into the valley with the camera. It was a fruitful exercise. I first spotted Mercury with the naked eye at 10.55pm, although it had been visible in pictures for at least ten minutes previously. I watched Venus all the way to the horizon, where it set at 11.15pm. 

I love this time of year, when the twilight stretches right into the night, and the sky doesn't get fully dark. It's such a beautiful time, and reminds us that, despite the short cold days of winter, the long days always come eventually. Summer Solstice is only 17 days away now. Seventeen days and the sun will begin to change its course southward again.

One important fact to note about tonight's observation is that I was located on Redmountain, at roughly the point where the sun appears over the hill when it shines into Newgrange on Winter Solstice. With Venus setting behind Newgrange at this time, roughly opposite the Winter Solstice sunrise position, we are reminded that Boyne Valley folklore suggests that Venus shone into Newgrange once in eight years on the morning of Winter Solstice. 

Stunning skies over Dowth this evening . . .

A stunning evening sky over the Neolithic passage-mound of Dowth this evening.

Given that the mythology of Dowth is all about an eclipse which plunges the land into darkness, and that the name of Dowth - Dubhadh - means 'darkness', one might wonder why mankind ever grew afraid of the dark when the sky gives such glorious displays as this one. I spent around three hours this evening at Dowth, a place I deeply love. Unlike Newgrange and Knowth, it has not been excavated or reconstructed in modern times, and the tourists/visitors are few and far between, especially in the winter.

I was hoping to get a photo from the top of Dowth looking at the sunset towards Newgrange. However, the sky was almost completely overcast when the sun went down. However, as night came in the clouds started to break up quite nicely, allowing the stars to shine through. I got busy finding a location where the sky would form a dramatic backdrop to the mound.

What I particularly love about this shot, and some of the others that I took, is that the clouds seem to mimic the profile of the mound and trees. The orange colour of the clouds is light pollution from the town of Navan, some 10 or 12 miles to the west. They gave a dramatic contrast to the deep blue of the sky's afterglow.

The shot below was taken five minutes later. The sky was darker, but the clouds were brighter! Light pollution is becoming a major problem in Ireland.

International Space Station passes through Equuleus

The 'streak of light' you see in this picture is the International Space Station, caught in a 30-second exposure travelling from west to east from the direction of the constellation Aquila (on right of photo), through Equuleus and on towards Pegasus.

Flowing water and colourful stones make for nice photos

Stones and flowing water . . . at Townley Hall, near Drogheda

Even with relatively short exposures, like a half a second, the moving
water takes on a misty look.

A stick and a leaf in the stream.

The stream is very shallow, only inches deep.