Kawasaki Concours Forum
Mish mash => Open Forum => Topic started by: Conrad on December 13, 2014, 06:41:25 AM
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Wow!!!!!
http://spaceweather.com/ (http://spaceweather.com/)
On Dec. 9th, aurora tour guide Chad Blakley of Sweden's Abisko National Park was warming up inside a Sami hut, when he looked through the door and noticed the snow turning green. "I rushed outside," he says, "and discovered one of the most beautiful aurora displays I had ever seen dancing overhead." In addition to green, there was a rare and remarkable fringe of pink:
(http://0e33611cb8e6da737d5c-e13b5a910e105e07f9070866adaae10b.r15.cf1.rackcdn.com/Chad-Blakley-DSC_7669-copy_1418167807.jpg)
(http://0e33611cb8e6da737d5c-e13b5a910e105e07f9070866adaae10b.r15.cf1.rackcdn.com/Chad-Blakley-DSC_8610-copy_1418167807.jpg)
It was the "nitrogen fringe." 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.
"For almost five minutes, fast-moving pink auroras streaked across the sky," says Blakley. "I have been photographing the Northern Lights for years, and I can honestly say that this was the brightest pink aurora I have ever seen." Using two cameras, he recorded a pair of must-see videos:
Aurora Borealis in Abisko National Park, Sweden December 9th, 2014 on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/114128866)
Aurora Borealis in Abisko National Park, Sweden. December 9th, 2014 Part II on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/114237608)
Arctic sky watchers should be alert for more pink in the nights ahead. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Dec. 13-14 as a solar wind stream buffets Earth's magnetic field.