How are auroras different colors at the same time?
Hi Darby! The different colors are caused by interactions with different atoms present in the Earth’s atmosphere. Red and green are caused by interactions with oxygen and blue by nitrogen. If both oxygen and nitrogen are being bombarded by electrons at the same time, you will see all three colors. This means that you will often see pinks, purples and mauves as the colors all mix together in the atmosphere. If you are wondering how oxygen can cause both green and red–well, these are different energy states of oxygen. If it is excited to, what we call the first state, you will see green–if it is very excited then it will reach the second excited state and you will see red. Do you have a little brother or sister? If so, imagine the difference in their energy level if you gave them one bag of M&Ms and ten bags! They would certainly have much more energy with the 10 bags and would probably run around a lot more to get rid of their extra excitement. Green aurora are equivalent to 1 bag of
