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Pink sky at night

THIS MAY LOOK like a magenta sun setting over some alien planet. but its actually the Aurora Borealis
here on Earth in Oregon.The Northern Lights appear in the night sky when charged particles from the
Sun collide with molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere.The Colours produced in these collisions depend on
the molecules that are hit oxygen molecules give of
green and red light, nitrogen molecules red and blue. The pink hue seen here is a much
rarer sight and harder to  explain. it may be the combination of different emissions at diferent
altitudes says Prof Jim Wild, Professor of Space Physics at Lancaster University. so the high
altitude blue emission of light from nitrogen mixes with the reds beneath it' The fact that the Aurora is
visible in Oregon on the same latitude as northern Italy, is also startling, and
signals a possible solar storm as the cause.