Why are the northern lights green?

What causes the color in the Northern Lights?

The Earth's atmosphere is made up of different atoms, like oxygen and nitrogen; it is these atoms that cause the colors we can see in the Northern Lights. These atoms become excited at different levels in the atmosphere. … Once the nitrogen atoms begin to decay, they emit a purple light.

Do the Northern Lights really look green?

Green is the most common color observed but the Northern Lights can also appear white-gray. And a cloudy night if you've never seen them before, you might not even be entirely sure of what you're looking at.

Why are the northern lights green and blue?

The “northern lights” are caused by collisions between fast-moving particles (electrons) from space and the oxygen and nitrogen gas in our atmosphere. … Oxygen emits either a greenish-yellow light (the most familiar color of the aurora) or a red light; nitrogen generally gives off a blue light.

Are the Northern Lights ever red?

They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.. Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported.

Can Northern Lights be red?

Red Northern Lights occur at even higher altitudes, while blue and violet occur mostly below 120 km. When the sun is "stormy," red colors occur at altitudes of 90 to 100 km. Entirely red Northern Lights may sometimes be seen, particularly at low latitudes.

Is the aurora green to the naked eye?

The majority of auroral displays are predominantly green for two reasons, the first of which is that the human eye detects green more readily than other colours. This is why photographic images of the Northern Lights will often show colours that were not visible at the time to the naked eye.

Do the northern lights make noise?

The sounds of the auroras People have described the sound of the northern lights as a quiet and almost imperceptible crackling, whooshing or whizzing noise. … While best seen at night, auroras are generated thanks to the Sun. They are the result of charged particles reaching our planet.

What is the rarest aurora color?

green It's extremely rare to have an aurora without green. Green is the color people usually have in mind when they think of aurora. Above ~250km of altitude, the entities are extremely isolated and scares. The general density of the atmosphere is so low that particles rarely bump into each other anymore.