Red Northern Lights (Aurora borealis), Juneau, Gastineau Channel, Alaska – Image 2813

Red northern lights blaze over downtown Juneau and Gastineau Channel. Most northern light displays are green. The rarest color phases of northern lights are red, blue and purple. The previous image of the lights over downtown Douglas show a wide color range of the lights. Northern lights are created when solar energy (energetic charged particles) collide with the earth’s upper atmosphere. This solar energy is pulled toward the earth my the planet’s magnetic field. Since the magnetic field is the strongest around the poles, this is where the northern lights are most visible. Solar storms produce huge blast of energy and provide the best opportunity for seeing the lights. I check out the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute’s northern lights forecast website… http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast before sending a sleep deprived night in the car. This image was taken from my files. Thank you for visiting. Camera body: F5, Lens: Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8 /Fuji film/ASA 100/ digital scan/exposure unrecorded© Mark Kelley