Aurora Borealis

The Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are the results of collisions between gas particles in our atmosphere and charged particles ejected from the Sun’s atmosphere. The colour of the Northern Lights will change due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. Oxygen molecules at approximately 100 km above the earth produce a greenish-yellow colour while, while a red aurora can be seen when high level oxygen molecules are involved. Blue or purple auroras indicate the presence of nitrogen molecules.

learn more on Met eireann 👉track Auroras

This page was built by Saoirse Bergin