article_snippet.sent: The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, was picked up by Mark Zastrow from Eos.
article_snippet.sent: The interactions between the charged particles give off light.
article_snippet.sent: The common green hue is caused by colliding oxygen molecules at altitudes of up to 150 miles (240km).
article_snippet.sent: The common green hue would be based on a instrument called the Compact Particle Accelerator for Space Science (Compass), which is being developed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and SRI International, both in California.
article_snippet.sent: ‘The authors say that employing such instrumentation would offer many scientific opportunities to study the behaviour of particles in the upper atmosphere,’ wrote Mr Zastrow.
article_snippet.sent: He added that the beam might even be able to trigger different forms of lightning, including red sprites and blue jets.