More to the point, why are all photos of aurorae so wildly beyond the human, naked eye experience, which can lead those less apt to look up to be disillusioned? BBC also need to learn one night of intense CME-related disturbance usually doesn't mean we'll have another, just because skies are clear!

it’s long exposure photography, which makes colors look more vivid in dark situations. no other answer, really

Simple - in an effort to try and get the best image, many (but fortunately not all) wind the saturation dial to 11. I trust very few aurora images on soc media.

Human eyes have two sorts of photoreceptors --rods that are sensitive to low light but that do not give colour information, and cones that are colour sensitive but less sensitive to low light-- so dim light registers as less saturated. Most cameras only have colour-sensitive sensors