Pink Northern Lights over Canada

On September 14, the solar wind flow reached the Earth’s magnetic field. When its speed exceeded 600 km / s, a bright pink strip appeared over Yellowknife in Canada. Martin Male made this mesmerizing shot, noting that the pink color hit him.

Pink is a sign of the nitrogen content. Most aurorae are green. We see a green glow when charged particles from outer space hit oxygen atoms at a height of 100 to 300 km above the Earth’s surface. A pink color appears when charged particles fall below normal, striking nitrogen molecules at an altitude of 100 km and below.

Autumn equinox is the time of appearance of cracks in the Earth’s magnetic field. Perhaps because of them the solar wind penetrated beyond the usual. If this is so, in the near future we will be able to admire a large number of pink (“nitrogen”) auroras. Before the equinox, there is less than a week left, and a new stream of solar wind approaches the Earth.

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