RED AURORAS

[Maria]

This shot is awesome with a multi-color aurora and the Milky Way all in one shot.

Here is the photographer's description

Aurora Over Crawling Lake
Taken by Alan Dyer on June 25, 2017 @ near Bassano, Alberta
This was a bit of a surprise aurora, but it was a decent display, peaking in a brief substorm between 1:00 and 1:30 am MDT on June 25, as seen from my location in southern Alberta. I positioned myself at the south shore of this prairie lake and reservoir, to shoot what I hoped was going to be a good display of noctilucent clouds over the water. But I got a nice aurora instead, in a bit of a surprise as activity levels were low. But in the closer panorama the NLCs are there, very low on the northern horizon. The wider panorama is a 360° view that includes the Milky Way. This is from latitude 51° N. The images are multi-segment panoramas.

And at this link, you can see another picture: http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_up ... _id=136493

[Maria]

Here is a beautiful aurora caused by the recent solar winds which triggered a G3 aurora watch:
Source: www.spaceweather.com

AN EXPLOSION OF PINK OVER ALASKA: Knowing that a solar wind stream was heading for Earth, forecasters predicted a geomagnetic storm last night. However, they didn't predict it would be so strong, a G3-class event. Marketa S. Murray photographed the pleasant surprise outside Fairbanks, Alaska:

"It was one of the best shows I've seen," says Murray, a longtime Alaska sky watcher and aurora tour guide. "The auroras were remarkable for their amazing pink and purple color."

The pink color is a sign of nitrogen. Most auroras are green--a verdant glow caused by energetic particles from space hitting oxygen atoms 100 km to 300 km above Earth's surface. Pink appears when energetic particles descend lower than usual, striking nitrogen molecules at the 100 km level and below. The solar wind stream currently blowing around Earth seems to be sending particles deep enough into Earth's atmosphere to spark this lovely type of aurora

[Maria]

Here is another aurora from the G3 storm that we recently experienced.

Source: www.spaceweather.com

NORTHERN LIGHTS IN THE USA: On Sept. 27th, a solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field. Flowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere, the stream was fast and potent; by the early hours of Sept. 28th a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm was underway. Northern Lights spilled across the Canadian border into more than half a dozen US states. Lenny Angello sends this picture from Sudden Valley, Washington:

"Spaceweather.com was reporting a G3 storm so I set up for aurora photography," says Angello. "Visually, the display was mostly faint. This brief intense outburst with movement and structure took place shortly before local midnight."

Elsewhere in the USA, auroras were sighted in Michigan, Montana, Iowa, Idaho, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota and, of course, Alaska

[Maria]

Here is an absolutely wonderful aurora:

GEOMAGNETIC UNREST: A stream of solar wind is blowing around Earth faster than 600 km/s. This is causing intermittent G1-class geomagnetic storms and Arctic auroras. NOAA forecasters say there is a 55% chance of G1-storms through Dec. 19th as Earth continues its passage through the stream of solar wind. The gaseous material is emerging from a hole in the sun's atmosphere. ...

Last night in Kvaløya, Norway, the sky exploded in a spray of color. Aurora tour guide Marianne Bergli caught the outburst.

"Everyone was completely speechless," says Bergli. "Then they screamed: Look , WOW, Amazing! It was pink and green and white, is it like that every day?"

Indeed, these colors are somewhat unusual. Most auroras are green--a verdant glow caused by energetic particles from space hitting oxygen atoms 100 km to 300 km above Earth's surface. Seldom-seen pink appears when the energetic particles descend lower than usual, striking nitrogen molecules at the 100 km level and below. The ambient solar wind stream seems to be more penetrating than usual, creating an extra-colorful display for Arctic sky watchers

http://www.spaceweather.com

[Maria]

SURPRISE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: On March 18th, a crack opened in Earth's magnetic field. Solar wind poured in, fueling a moderately strong (G2-class) geomagnetic storm. Ruslan Merzlyakov sends this picture from Mårup (Hjørring), Denmark:

cf: www.spaceweather.com for March 19, 2018

[Maria]

Here is an aurora outside Tromsö, Norway taken on April 2, 2018

This type is called Hem of His Garment, which refers to the robe of Christ.

[Maria]

SOUTHERN LIGHTS: When an interplanetary shock wave hit Earth's magnetic field on April 19th, northern skies lit up with electric blue auroras. Southern skies lit up, too, but the palette was different. Peter Sayers sends this photo of red, yellow and green lights over Wilmot, Tasmania: ...

Similar colors were observed in New Zealand, while Antarctic observers witnessed almost pure green.

What's the difference? Northern Lights stimulated by the shock wave were dominated by ionized nitrogen molecules, which produce a blue glow at the upper limits of Earth's atmosphere. Southern Lights, on the other hand, were dominated by oxygen. Oxygen atoms glow red and green when excited by incoming particles from space. Oxygen and nitrogen are abundant in both hemispheres--so why they dominated in different places is anyone's guess. Consider it a beautiful mystery.

http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php ... &year=2018