what color are the northern lights

The northern lights are most commonly green , but they can also appear red, pink, purple, blue, yellow, or even whitish-grey to the eye, depending on conditions.

Main colors you’ll see

• Green is by far the most common color people notice in the aurora borealis.

• Strong displays can add bands or edges of pink and purple, especially along the lower parts of the lights.

• Very energetic storms can produce deeper reds higher up in the sky, and sometimes rare hints of blue or violet.

Why the colors look different

• The color depends on which gas the charged particles hit (oxygen tends to give green or red; nitrogen contributes pinks, purples, and blues).

• Altitude matters: mid-altitude oxygen often glows green, while higher-altitude oxygen can glow red and certain nitrogen reactions give purples and blues.

• To the naked eye, faint auroras can look whitish or grey, and a camera may reveal greens or other colors that your eyes barely detect.

Quick scoop style recap

• Typical night: flowing green curtains or bands across the sky.

• Bigger storm: green plus streaks of pink, purple, maybe some red at the top.

• Very faint display: a soft, milky-white or greyish glow that only shows clear color in photos.

In short, when people ask “what color are the northern lights,” the best honest answer is: usually green, sometimes a whole shimmering rainbow of reds, pinks, purples, blues, yellows, and white.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.