eli5 Why are the Northern Lights only Green, Pink and Blue?

Question

eli5 Why are the Northern Lights only Green, Pink and Blue?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

They are the color you see for a reason:

Green = high concentrations of Oxygen 100-300km above the Earth’s surface

Red = a different Oxygen band that’s 300-400km above the surface

Blue/Purple = Nitrogen much closer to the surface, less than 100km

Yellow/Pink conditions where you have red + green or blue; it’s a color mixture like your monitor