Red sky over Fairbanks — One of those nights you never forge
Rare red and green aurora over Fairbanks, captured on a subzero night.
The aurora happens when charged particles from the sun slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere along the magnetic field lines.
Up high above us – roughly 37 to 249 miles – those particles hit oxygen and nitrogen. When those gases calm back down, they release the extra energy as light. That’s the glow we see as curtains, arcs, and spirals across the sky.
Our first clear memory of the northern lights goes all the way back to Michigan in the early 90s – a green glow on a night wrapped around big news and small-town life.
Fast-forward a few decades. On our one-year anniversary in Fairbanks, under a sky sitting at -20°F, Alaska threw its own celebration: sheets of green, then bands of red, with purple ripping through the pillars. No ticket, no crowd – just us, the Bronco, and a sky that looked like it was breathing.
We moved to Fairbanks chasing a new chapter, not lights in the sky.
But up here, the sky has a way of answering back.
This page is the running log of those nights when the horizon catches fire and reminds you just how small – and alive – you really are.
Why the Sky Glows Green… and Sometimes Blood-Red
- Green (the classic):
Most of what we see in Fairbanks is green – oxygen getting hit at about 62 to 124 miles up. It’s the brightest and most common color.
- Red (the rare one):
True red aurora lives way higher – roughly 124 to 249 miles up – where the air is thin and excited oxygen has enough time to release deep red light before bumping into anything. You usually only get that when the storm is strong.
- Purple / Pink edges:
That purple or pink fringe along the bottom or mixed into the pillars? That’s nitrogen joining the party – blue + red emissions blending together down lower in the atmosphere. Strong storms can paint the whole sky in purples you won’t forget.
A gallery of the nights the aurora showed up!
