Polar aurora

通常，有太阳风暴产生的高能带电离子到达地球大气层上部时，会和氧气和氮气的原子产生碰撞，进而产生极光。极光一般出现在南极或北极，但在地球磁场的作用下极光也有可能飘移至赤道

题图这张图片是国际空间站在南印度洋上空350公里拍摄到的，它是由5月24日的太阳风暴造成的

这条以绿色为主色调的激光带弯曲盘旋，在右下角有离散的点状光分布；此外在图片中央部位也有淡红色。激光下方的积云密布，地球大气层蓝色光环清晰可见

技术上而言，大气原子在收到太阳风的带电粒子撞击后，原子在回到原来能量级的过程中会释放出光。常见的绿色极光是由氧原子释放波长为0.558微米的光造成的；红色的极光是由原子释放0.63微米的光而成

Auroras, also known as northern and southern (polar) lights or aurorae (singular: aurora), are natural light displays in the sky, particularly in the polar regions, and usually observed at night. They typically occur in the ionosphere. They are also referred to as polar auroras. This is a misnomer however, because they are commonly visible between 65 to 72 degrees north and south latitudes, which place them a ring just within the Arctic and Antarctic circles. Aurorae do occur deeper inside the polar regions, but these are infrequent and often invisible to the naked eye.

this picture taken by international space station in the South Indian Ocean,over 350 km, which is May 24 caused by solar storms