2D Aurora Borealis: Solar Wind & Magnetic Field Lines

Solar Wind

Solar wind intensity 60%

Geomagnetic Field

Magnetic latitude 67°

Atmospheric Gas Mix

Nitrogen ↔ Oxygen 50%

Aurora State

Particles/s

Curtain glow

Oval width

0°

Dominant gas

—

How it works

Charged particles streaming from the sun (the solar wind) get funneled by Earth's magnetic field lines toward the poles instead of hitting the whole planet evenly. Following those field lines down, they slam into oxygen and nitrogen atoms roughly 100–300 km up, exciting the atoms' electrons, which then relax back down and release the extra energy as light — the aurora.

Solar wind intensity — more energetic particle flux means more collisions per second and a brighter, more active curtain; during a geomagnetic storm this same knob is what turns a faint glow into a sky-filling display.
Magnetic latitude — the auroral oval normally sits around 65–72° magnetic latitude. Push it lower (toward 55°) and the field lines funnel particles down over a wider, lower band near the horizon, as happens during strong storms; push it higher and the curtain tightens and sits nearly overhead.
Gas mix — oxygen at high altitude gives the famous green (∼557.7 nm) and, higher still, red (∼630 nm) lines; nitrogen molecules lower in the curtain contribute blue and purple edges. Sliding toward oxygen brightens the green/red bands; sliding toward nitrogen shifts the base of the curtain toward blue-violet.

Oxygen — green (low alt.) Oxygen — red (high alt.) Nitrogen — blue/purple