During a solar storm, or from a solar flare, ionized protons
and electrons are emitted as from the sun as plasma (containing magnetic fields
from the sun) and fly out into the solar system. Sometimes these the plasma is directed
towards earth and arrive at our magnetic fields at supersonic speeds.
The interaction of the plasma and the earth’s magnetic field
causes the aurora.
The best description of this process is here: Department of Physics, University of Oslo
Oxygen when returning to its ground state gives off a green
photon in 3/4ths of a second, while the
red photon takes much longer (~2 minutes).
If the oxygen atom collides with another atom during that 2 mintues, the
red photon is not emitted. So, at higher
altitudes, where the atmosphere is less dense, and the oxygen atom has less
chance of colliding with other atoms, the red auroras are seen.
A great FAQ page about Auroras.
Good and informative post, I am learning about aurora for the first time and it certainly have my attention. Thank you for sharing such informative post with us
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