What is Steve?

Steve has gone viral around the world this week and its scientific origins come right from Calgary!

I was first introduced to Steve on February 16, 2017.  A presentation was given at the General Meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Calgary Centre by Chris Ratzlaff about aurora chasing.  He is a member of The Alberta Aurora Chasers.  This group is active throughout southern Alberta as citizens with a keen interest in viewing and imaging the aurora.  Many times they kept seeing this pillar of light appear in their photographs of the aurora.  They deemed it to be a proton arc until they solicited the advice of a space physicist at the University of Calgary.  At a meeting at the local pub that we used to frequent as colleagues at the Department of Physics and Astronomy the topic of of this unusual phenomenon was discussed.  It was determined it was not a proton arc but more investigation was required.  The Alberta Aurora Chasers named the phenomenon 'Steve', a homage to the movie 'Over the Hedge'.  Professor Eric Donovan, my former thermodynamics and electrodynamics teacher was at the meeting and chose to investigate further.  A video below shows his take on this meeting and how citizen scientists helped to make breakthroughs.  Eric's talk begins 1 hour, 8 minutes and 30 seconds into the meeting.  He is a great teacher, colleague and an experienced space physicist.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2017/03/Opening_of_Swarm_and_CryoSat_Science_Meetings

Steve has recently been in the news all across the globe this week.  It has gone viral.  Some are calling it Sudden Thermal Emission from Velocity Enhancement (S.T.E.V.E.).  Below are some articles relating to the discovery and the identification.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/science/aurora-borealis-steve.html?_r=0

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39686055

https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-aurora-chaser-who-named-atmospheric-phenomenon-steve

The image below shows a pillar of purple light emanating from the horizon.  This is currently known as Steve.

A stream of hot, fast-moving gas, nicknamed Steve, glowing over Porteau Cove Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada, in May 2016. Credit(Image Credit: Vanexus Photography)

The following link has a video of the phenomenon with some great information.

http://www.space.com/36583-new-aurora-feature-named-steve-investigated.html

If you are ever out aurora chasing keep your eye out for this phenomenon that was popularized and investigated right here in Calgary.