Mystery Solved

Northern Lights over Seltjörn by Kjartan Guðmundur

When posting the Northern Lights Hat post on Feb 7 I did think it was odd that the hat had rosy hues instead of green, as did Sarah. We all know how funny life is, days after Sarah made her comment and I replied, my amateur, photographer husband called me over to the computer to see an amazing picture. The picture above is what he shared, click on the picture to go to the photographer’s site. This picture of Northern Lights was taken over Seltjörn, Iceland by Kjartan Guðmundur. What a stunning picture.  I was flabbergasted that Northern Lights could be rose colored, living way down in San Diego, I’ve never seen them. Now I can see why the bright, rosy colors were chosen for the hat. Needing an answer for why the bright pink color I found wiki.ask.com:

What colors are in the Northern Lights?

 Answer:

Three colors generally.

The main color is green, then blue and finally red. It depends on what gas is involved and how high in the ionosphere the reaction takes place.

• Oxygen gives off green light usually, or sometimes browny-red.
• Nitrogen gives off blue or red.
• If the collisions take place high up then oxygen gives off red. Lower down oxygen gives green and nitrogen shines blue and red. Lower down still oxygen is quiet and nitrogen still gives off blue and red.

There you have it! I guess, the red spectrum is the least common according to info I could find.

Here is the Northern Lights Hat, which I’d still like a pattern for:

Northern Lights Hat