Here's what causes the aurora-like glow known as STEVE
Here’s what causes the aurora-like glow known as STEVE
Amateur astronomer images and satellite data reveal what causes the odd atmospheric phenomenon
BY MARIA TEMMING 7:00AM, APRIL 30, 2019
SECRETS OF STEVE Satellite data are helping uncover the atmospheric processes behind STEVE, a weird sky glow composed of a purple streak and a queue of green light beams.
We’re one step closer to understanding the mysterious atmospheric light show called STEVE.
Short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, STEVE is an unusual type of sky glow that appears closer to the equator than auroras (SN: 4/14/18, p. 5). Unlike the shimmery green ribbons that make up the northern lights, STEVE consists of a mauve band of light that stretches east to west, sometimes accompanied by a row of vertical green stripes called the picket fence.
Analysis of celestial photos and satellite data reveals that heated atmospheric particles produce STEVE’s mauve ribbon, while electron showers from space create the picket fence, researchers report online April 16 in Geophysical Research Letters.
Citizen scientists have been snapping pictures of STEVE events for years, but only now are scientists beginning to understand the atmospheric conditions that create these sky glows, says Don Hampton, a space physicist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who wasn’t involved in the study. Learning more about such atmospheric processes may help researchers anticipate the effects of space weather on satellite signals, he says.
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