Las Cruces Night Sky Becomes Color Theory-"Las Cruces Purple" in the Wild

“Several of our [NMSU Astronomy] department members got AMAZING images of the aurora last night as seen from Las Cruces!”

Source: Las Cruces Digest Report:
Images: Courtesy NMSU, NMSU Astronomy via Facebook

There was a paint color called “Las Cruces Purple” (hex #8060a0) in the color catalog of Pittsburgh Paint. The company now goes by another name, and the color has vanished from the catalog. I discovered this color fifteen years ago, and being a native of Las Cruces, wondered where the inspiration for this particular hue of purple drew its connection to Las Cruces. Now I know.

Las Cruces Purple

According to the National Weather Service:

What is the Aurora?

Aurora is the name given to the glow or light produced when electrons from space flow down Earth’s magnetic field and collide with atoms and molecules of the upper atmosphere in a ring or oval centered on the magnetic pole of Earth. The collisions produce light much like how electrons flowing through gas in a neon light collide with neon and other gasses to produce different colored light bulbs.

The Aurora is also called the Northern Lights in the northern hemisphere and Southern Lights in the southern hemisphere. The technical term for the Northern Lights is Aurora Borealis and the Southern lights are called the Aurora Australis. The word Aurora was first used by Galileo and comes from Latin and is the name of the goddess of dawn. The word Borealis comes from the Latin word boreal which means “northern” or “from the north”. The word Australis is Latin for austral, which means “southern.”

G4 (SEVERE) STORM WATCH FOR 10-11 OCTOBER
published: Friday, October 11, 2024 16:15 UTC

A fast coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the Sun the evening of 8 October, 2024, and is likely to arrive at Earth on 10 October. This CME has been analyzed and speed estimates are 1200 to 1300 km/s. This makes for a potential arrival time as early as the morning to midday of 10 October EDT. There is potential to reach G4 (Severe) upon arrival of this CME and throughout its passage. We won’t know the characteristics of the CME until it arrives 1 million miles from Earth and its speed and magnetic intensity are measured by the DSCOVR and ACE satellites. Please visit our webpage for the latest information and updates.

Photos of the aurora posted to Facebook by New Mexico State University:

Photos of the aurora Posted on Facebook by NMSU Astronomy

Article posted by:

Levi Gwaltney

Levi Gwaltney is the Editor In Chief of Las Cruces Digest. The Editor makes editorial and posting decisions regarding content published on this site. In most cases, the Editor makes little if any contribution to content published, and takes no credit for the content of republished posts. If available, the source or author of posts is provided at the top of the article.