Auroral Display of November 7

November 18, 2004

Aur7nov0411

Provided by: Philippe Moussette
Summary authors & editors: Jim Foster; Philippe Moussette

The photo above showing the shimmering northern lights was taken (using a digital camera with an 8 mm lens) in the early evening of November 7, 2004 from the Observatoire de la Découverte Val-B in Quebec, Canada. Owing to a particularly powerful geomagnetic storm on the Sun during November 5 and 6 and to clear skies over much of North America on the 7th, this amazing auroral display was visible as far south as North Carolina. Green auroras and greenish auroras tinged with reddish borders typically occur at altitudes between about 100 and 150 km (62 to 93 miles). Red auroras are found higher in the atmosphere (200 to 250 km or 125 to 156 miles). For more photos of this aurora see the links below, and also see tomorrow's Earth Science Picture of the Day.

Related Links: