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Michael Porter

I’m seeing this graphic making the rounds without attribution - many versions have the info at the bottom cut off. The creator is alienyrox2 on reddit (reddit.com/user/alienyrox2/).

reddit.com/r/coolguides/commen

#Aurora #CreditYourSources #AltText

COLORS OF
AURORA

Solar wind (which contains
charged particles) interacts
with earth's magnetic field.

This interaction traps charged
particles at north and south
pole.

The charged particles
react with gasses in the
atmosphere and produce
excited and ionized gasses.
The color of light emitted
during the rection depends
on type of gas involved.

Above
150 miles or
241.4 km

Excited atomic
oxygen at high
altitudes
Only visible under intense
solar activity due to low
concentration of oxygen
at high altitudes.

Up to
150 miles or
241.4 km

Excited atomic
oxygen at lower
altitudes
Green light is emitted
instead of red due to
higher concentration
of oxygen.

Above
60 miles or
96.6 km
(purple)

Up to
60 miles or
96.6 km
(blue)

lonized molecular
nitrogen
The reaction involve
molecular nirogen
because atomic oxygen
is uncommon at low
altitudes. Similar to red,
blue and purple is
associated with intense
solar activity.

Source:
Canadian Space Agency.
(2014, April 29).
The colours of the Northern Lights.

Aurora Zone. (n.d.).
Why are the Northern Lights
sometimes coloured differently?

Space.com. (2017, October 11).
Northern Lights: What Causes the
Aurora Borealis & Where to See It.

Northern Lights Centre, Canada.
(n.d.).
Northern Lights.

Made by alienyrox.
Show previous comments
SunnJax 🏳️‍🌈

@MichaelPorter Thank you for the complete version of this graphic.

Schaf

@MichaelPorter this was a shitty habit on twitter and i hate that this habit comes up on fedi now.

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