'STEVE' descends on North America after surprise solar storm



Though it resembles an aurora, the phenomena is "totally unknown" to scientists.

A surprising solar storm that struck Earth on August 7 and 8 in the dead of night dumped a quick torrent of charged solar particle rain on our globe. Amazing auroras appeared at considerably lower latitudes than typical as a result of the collision of solar and terrestrial particles in Earth's atmosphere, and in southern Canada, STEVE made an unexpected appearance.

The ethereal ribbons of green and violet light were photographed by Canadian astronomy writer and photographer Alan Dyer, who is situated in southern Alberta.

On August 8, Dyer posted on Twitter(opens in new tab) that "STEVE lasted around 40 minutes, appearing as the... aurora to the north waned." Steve enjoys performing here more than anywhere else because he was "discovered" here!

As Dyer pointed out, in northern Canada in 2017, aurora hunters and citizen scientists were the ones to first identify the odd sky glow known as STEVE. STEVE normally consists of a huge ribbon of purple light that can hang in the sky for an hour or more, accompanied by a green light "picket fence" that often vanishes within a few minutes.

Even though the shimmering river of light resembles an aurora, it is a distinct phenomena that was "totally unknown" to scientists when it was first discovered. Today, scientists' understanding of what is happening has improved a little.

A long, narrow line of hot gas known as STEVE (short for "strong thermal velocity enhancement") pierces the sky for hundreds of kilometers. Satellite measurements have revealed that the hot air within STEVE may reach temperatures of more than 5,500 degrees Fahrenheit (3,000 degrees Celsius) and flow around 500 times faster than the air on either side of it.

STEVE appears far lower in the sky, in an area known as the subauroral zone, as opposed to the northern lights, which are caused when charged solar particles slam with molecules in Earth's high atmosphere. That suggests that solar particles are probably not directly to blame for STEVE, according to a previous research by Live Science. However, during solar storms like the one on Sunday, STEVE often arrives after the northern lights have started to wane.

According to one theory, STEVE was caused by an abrupt release of thermal and kinetic energy in the subauroral zone, maybe brought on by the collision of charged particles higher in the atmosphere during aurora-producing solar storms. To learn STEVE's genuine secrets, additional investigation is necessary. We can just enjoy its alien brilliance while waving back to its flashing green fingers in the meanwhile.

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