Red Aurora Above Saint-Pierre, Quebec
July 03, 2012
Photographer: Philippe Moussette
Summary Author: Philippe Moussette; Jim Foster
The photos above show two different views of a red aurora as observed over Saint-Pierre, Quebec on June 17, 2012. As opposed to green auroras, there's evidently no mixing of colors with red auroras, so the colors are more pure. It’s not known for certain just how red auroras form, but a tremendous number of relatively low energy electrons interacting with nitrogen atoms seem to be involved in their formation. Note that in the fisheye view, north is at top.
Photo details: Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III; Lens: 8-15 mm or 24mm-70mm; ISO equiv: 1600