@pitochk: For thousands of years, people have looked up at the northern lights and tried to understand what could possibly make the night sky glow. In Finnish folklore, the aurora was associated with a mythical fox running across the snowy landscape, its tail scattering sparks into the sky. The Finnish word revontulet literally means “fox fires.” The real explanation is no less extraordinary. Our Sun continuously releases streams of charged particles into space. When these particles interact with Earth’s magnetic environment, some are guided toward the polar regions, where energetic electrons collide with atoms and molecules high in the atmosphere. These collisions transfer energy to oxygen and nitrogen, exciting them into higher-energy states. As they return to lower-energy states, they release photons of specific wavelengths, producing the colors we see in the sky. Atomic oxygen is responsible for the familiar green light at around 557.7 nanometers, while its red emission at 630 nanometers is more prominent at higher altitudes. Nitrogen also contributes blue, violet, and pink emissions. What makes this even more fascinating is that the aurora is constantly changing. Its enormous curtains, arcs, and waves are shaped by the complex interaction between charged particles, magnetic fields, and Earth’s upper atmosphere. A phenomenon once explained through mythology has become one of the most beautiful visible demonstrations of atomic physics. #Aurora #NorthernLights #edit #Watercolor #Animation

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Thursday 05 November 2026 15:21:13 GMT