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Aurora Borealis? (mander.xyz)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Could you correct it for us mere mortals without in-depth aurora knowledge?

[–] Eheran 6 points 7 months ago

Sure. Red: It is the lower concentration of oxygen but also/mostly the lower overall pressure (lower number of partciles per volume). Only with lower pressure can there be fewer collisions and thus the exited state is not quenched.

Green: Any interaction of a random atom and the exited oxygen atom, that would otherwise emit red light, quenches the red light emission. Thus the faster green transition can take over.