Aurora Borealis: From My Reading This Morning

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Have you ever read the “Boomer” magazine? It’s published and mostly distributed here in Virginia, I think. TheBoomerMagazine.com It’s a FREE magazine that can be picked up in the grocery stores. I usually pick up the latest copy every time I see a new edition. I came across an older issue today (October-November 2016) that I had saved for some reason and was glancing through it to see if there was some particular reason that I had saved it, because after reading the magazine, I usually toss it into the recycling box, even though it’s a “glossy” magazine. Anyway, there was an interesting article about the Aurora Borealis. Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? I have. When I lived in Caribou, Maine. Something that I did NOT know though, I read today. Under the heading: Why are the colors different? It said, and I quote: “The color of the northern lights depends on the type of atom involved in the collision. Our atmosphere consists mostly of oxygen and nitrogen atoms. Because the composition of our atmosphere varies, different-colored auroras occur at different heights.” It went on to explain: “Red lights occur at altitudes of 150 miles and above.” “Green lights occur at altitudes of up to 100 miles.” “Purple lights occur at altitudes of 60 miles and above.” “Blue lights occur at altitudes of up to 60 miles.” I was not aware of any of this information. The article stated that this information was from Expedia Norway.