Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
"BLUE AURORAS: Northern Lights are usually green, and sometimes red. Those are the colors produced by oxygen when it is excited by electrons raining down from space. On Feb. 22nd, Micha Bäuml of Straumfjord, Norway, witnessed an appariton of aurora-blue:
...In auroras, blue is a sign of nitrogen. Energetic particles striking ionized molecular nitrogen (N2+) at very high altitudes produces a cold azure glow of the type captured in Micha's photo. Why it overwhelmed the usual hues of oxygen on Feb 22nd is unknown. Auroras still have the capacity to surprise."
Very pretty picture included with story on-site.
...Oh ya and there's a big honkin' rock making a near-miss fly-by in a couple days. But that's barely worth mentioning.
Only 29m, and while 0.9 LDs (lunar distance, 1=~384K km) is close as these things go, it's still no where near us in real terms.
"BLUE AURORAS: Northern Lights are usually green, and sometimes red. Those are the colors produced by oxygen when it is excited by electrons raining down from space. On Feb. 22nd, Micha Bäuml of Straumfjord, Norway, witnessed an appariton of aurora-blue:
...In auroras, blue is a sign of nitrogen. Energetic particles striking ionized molecular nitrogen (N2+) at very high altitudes produces a cold azure glow of the type captured in Micha's photo. Why it overwhelmed the usual hues of oxygen on Feb 22nd is unknown. Auroras still have the capacity to surprise."
Very pretty picture included with story on-site.
...Oh ya and there's a big honkin' rock making a near-miss fly-by in a couple days. But that's barely worth mentioning.
Only 29m, and while 0.9 LDs (lunar distance, 1=~384K km) is close as these things go, it's still no where near us in real terms.
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