Aurora Borealis – observed from Vallentuna

It is an amazing spectacle when a solar storm of charged particles hits the Earth’s magnetosphere. The particles following the magnetic field finally collide with particles of the Earth’s atmosphere – mostly oxygen and nitrogen. These collisions lead to either an ionization or excitation of atoms/molecules at an altitude of around 100 km. Subsequently, the recombination is responsible for the emission of a photon. The typically green colour arises from oxygen. On March 17, 2015 a strong solar storm hit the Earth and even at the relatively low latitude of Stockholm one could follow this energetic event.