Aurora Borealis over Nova Scotia, Canada | Earth Science

Aurora Borealis over Nova Scotia, Canada | Earth Science

Photographer Barry Burgess: "Blue, violet, red and green aurora. The different colors are caused by different ionization states of different molecules at different altitudes. The blue is emitted by molecular nitrogen near the upper most layer of earths atmosphere and is quite rare requiring a very strong geomagnetic storm to occur, the violet results from a mixture of blue and red light."

Also known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), auroras are colorful, dynamic, and often visually delicate displays of an intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather. When energetic particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they can cause the colorful glow that we call auroras.

Learn more about auroras: 
https://science.nasa.gov/sun/auroras/

Nova Scotia is a province in the Maritimes region of Canada, located on the nation's east coast.

Image Credit: Barry Burgess
Barry's website: 
https://500px.com/p/barryburgess323?view=photos
Image Date: Jan. 20, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Planets #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #SolarSystem #Sun #CME #Astrophotography #BarryBurgess #Astrophotographers #NovaScotia #Canada #STEM #Education