All-sky aurora - 17.3.2013 at 21.00 Kangasala Observation number 11847

• Aurora brightness
• • Bright auroras
• Colors with unaided eye and other features
• • Flaming auroras

    Flaming. This rare subclass of aurora does not mean so much a single shape, but a large area in the sky. In the flaming aurora, bright waves that are sweeping upward towards the magnetic zenith emerge in the sky. Very rarely waves can wipe downwards. Bands are usually reported during flaming, less often spots.

  • Blue auroras

    Clearly blue auroras can be seen only during the best aurora displays close to the maximum phase or soon after it. Sometimes blue auroras can be seen shortly after the sunset at the top part of the auroral shapes, specially rays. It is created by the mission of the ionized nitrogen molecules created by the suns radiation.

    Strongly colored blue auroras. Photo by Jorma Mäntylä.

    Blue top parts of the aurora. Image by Tom Eklund. 

    Blue top parts of the aurora. Image by Jaakko Hatanpää.

    Partly blue corona. Photo by Tapio Koski.

    Faintly blue top parts of an aurora veil. Photo by Jaakko Hatanpää.

  • Red coloration of the shapes lower edge

    Red lower edge visible with the naked eye. The bands which are starting to level up their activity and are green colored have quite often a narrow red lower edge. This is the most common form of red color which is derived from molecular nitrogen.

    Aurora band with purple lower edge. Photo by Ilmo Kemppainen.

    The low hanging brightest aurora band is colored red at the lower edge. Photo by Tero Ohranen.

    Narrow purple reddish tones at the lower part of this aurora band. Photo by Merja Ruotsalainen.

    Purple band at the bottom. Photo by Panu Lahtinen.

  • Green auroras

    Green, seen with the naked eye, is one the most common colors of the aurora. The green color is derived from atomic oxygen.

    Green auroras. Lea Rahtu-Korpela.

    Green auroras. Photo by Juha Ojanperä.

  • White auroras

    Paljain silmin valkoinen väri näkyy useimmiten himmeissä näytelmissä, kun silmä ei kykene erottamaan mitään varsinaista väriä. Harvoin kirkkaissa näytelmissä valkoinen väri voi myös syntyä sopivista vihreän, punaisen ja sinisen yhdistelmistä.

• Observed aurora forms
• • ;Veil;Rays;Band;Corona;Arc

Pentax K-5 14 / 2.8 20-25 s ISO800.

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