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13 Nitrogen Oxygen Emission
Amounts of nitrogen and oxygen varies by altitude. This affects the colors of an aurora.
The decay of oxygen above 200 km produces red while below 200 green is produced. Below 100 km not enough atomic oxygen exists to have an effect.
Nitrogen produces blue and violet when it decays at the middle altitudes and magenta at the lowest altitudes.
Data from NCAR/HAO.
The image was created for a www.scitechlab.com/ blog post on the Northern Lights.
13 Nitrogen Oxygen Emission
Amounts of nitrogen and oxygen varies by altitude. This affects the colors of an aurora.
The decay of oxygen above 200 km produces red while below 200 green is produced. Below 100 km not enough atomic oxygen exists to have an effect.
Nitrogen produces blue and violet when it decays at the middle altitudes and magenta at the lowest altitudes.
Data from NCAR/HAO.
The image was created for a www.scitechlab.com/ blog post on the Northern Lights.