Polar lights:
where do they come from and why are they green?
Kp-index value

0 ‒ 3: The glow can only be observed in the extreme north.
4 ‒ 5: The glow can be seen in Karelia.
At 6: The glow can be seen at the Leningrad Region’s latitude.
7 and higher: The glow can be seen as low as Moscow and other major Russian cities.
8 and higher: The glow can be seen in the southern regions; this only occurs once every 10 years or so.
Kp-index value

0 ‒ 3: The glow can only be observed
4 ‒ 5: The glow can be seen in Karelia.
At 6: The glow can be seen at the Leningrad Region’s latitude.
7 and higher: The glow can be seen as low as Moscow and other major Russian cities.
8 and higher: The glow can be seen in the southern regions; this only occurs once every 10 years or so.
When viewing a glow in the sky at night, the viewer sees gray and later green. With a sufficiently powerful solar flare, the human eye can also see violet and red hues. However, even if a viewer can see a bright glow, it will differ from the photos taken by photographers who use the long exposures to record light at night. This is why their images seem so vivid.
When viewing a glow in the sky at night, the viewer sees gray and later green. With a sufficiently powerful solar flare, the human eye can also see violet and red hues. However, even if a viewer can see a bright glow, it will differ from the photos taken by photographers who use the long exposures to record light at night. This is why their images seem so vivid.
Saturn also has its own aurora glowing 1,200 km above the planet’s surface. As with Jupiter, this phenomenon is also theoretically caused by interaction between solar winds and magnetic fields.

Charged particles, captured by the magnetosphere, move along the magnetic field’s lines of force; they reach the poles and penetrate deeper and denser atmospheric layers. Once there, they collide with gas molecules and atoms and transmit their energy to them. Excited molecules re-emit this as light quanta that can only be seen in the ultraviolet band.
Saturn also has its own aurora glowing 1,200 km above the planet’s surface. As with Jupiter, this phenomenon is also theoretically caused by interaction between solar winds and magnetic fields.

Charged particles, captured by the magnetosphere, move along the magnetic field’s lines of force; they reach the poles and penetrate deeper and denser atmospheric layers. Once there, they collide with gas molecules and atoms and transmit their energy to them. Excited molecules re-emit this as light quanta that can only be seen in the ultraviolet band.

Editor: Ekaterina Sytina

Design: Anastasiya Konchakovskaya, Elena Lebedeva