What Color Is Aurora

Learn how aurora colors work. See the chemistry and physics of the northern and southern lights and how the aurora works on other planets. Here we learn what causes the different colors in the aurora borealis (northern lights) and the aurora australis (southern lights).

Learn how the aurora gets its colors from the interactions of energetic particles and air molecules in the upper atmosphere. See examples of different auroral structures and colors from various locations in Alaska. The northern and southern lights, auroras visible from the poles, glow with a range of different colored lights.

Here's the reason for each of those colors. Auroras are vibrant light displays created when energetic particles from the Sun interact with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. These events, also seen on other planets like Saturn and Jupiter, result in a range of colors depending on altitude and the atmospheric gases involved.

Scientists study auroras using tools like rockets, balloons, and ground-based instruments, while public. The following colours can be seen when the northern lights are in the sky. Green: Green is the most common colour seen from the ground and is produced when charged particles collide with oxygen molecules at altitudes of 100 to 300 km.

Pink and dark red: Occasionally, the lower edge of an aurora will have a pink or dark red fringe, which is produced by nitrogen molecules at altitudes of around. The Aurora Borealis is a spectacular spectacle, but what's even more fascinating than its vibrant colors is the science that explains them. One particular aurora color is the result of excited nitrogen being further excited by photons from the sun, or sunlight.

This "sunlit aurora" typically occurs near sunrise or sunset and can be seen as a purplish color at the top of the auroral rays as seen in the figure below. Learn how solar particles and atmospheric gases create the colourful northern lights. Find out what each colour means and when and where to see the most impressive displays.

If you saw the aurora, or any of the photos, you might be wondering what exactly was going on. What makes the glow, and the different colors?