What Is Steve? Green, Purple Lights in the Northern Hemisphere Misidentified As Auroras

Not all colorful lights in the sky are aurora borealis. According to experts, another phenomenon called "Steve" is a similar sight but different in a way.

Green, Purple Lights Mistaken As Aurora Borealis

Since the sun is about to enter its solar maximum, increasing the number of stunning natural phenomena seen in the night sky, the unusual light show has generated some attention this year. As a result, there have been new reports of people seeing Steve in places where it is not usually visible, like parts of the United Kingdom.

However, Elizabeth MacDonald, a space physicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, had never witnessed the event firsthand until she was in Calgary, Alberta, for a seminar approximately eight years ago. It also lacked a name at the time.

Few scientists researching night sky phenomena, such as auroras or northern lights, have seen a Steve, distinguished by appearance closer to the equator than auroras. Steve is as colorful as auroras with its purple-pink arch and green vertical stripes.

After speaking at a local university, MacDonald visited Kilkenny Irish Pub to meet some citizen scientists. These scientists are primarily photographers who spend their evenings trying to get the following amazing shots of colors dancing in the Canadian sky.

According to her, she reached out to Aurora Chasers in Alberta in a Facebook post and was keen to share the observation with NASA. At the time, they weren't sure about the phenomenon.

A citizen scientist, Neil Zeller, said they used to call it a proton arc back in 2015. It was reportedly "misidentified" because, per Dr. Eric Donovan, a professor at the University of Calgary, a proton arc is "subvisual, broad, and diffuse." Still, the one that Zeller saw was "visually bright, narrow, and structured." Donovan, who was at the pub with MacDonald that day, assured Zeller it was different.

They decided to stop calling the phenomenon a proton arc at the event. Chris Ratzlaff, another aurora chaser, suggested the name "Steve" in 2016. The name was inspired by the 2006 DreamWorks animated film "Over the Hedge," in which a group of animals were frightened by a towering leafy bush and called it Steve. A porcupine remarks, "I'm a lot less scared of Steve."

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Steve Vs. Auroras

Although Auroras and Steve seemed similar at first sight, the two are entirely different phenomena. In contrast to auroras, which are visually represented as dancing ribbons of green, blue, or red, Steve is not created by electrically charged particles that shine when they interact with the environment.

If sub auroral ion drift (SAID) is the cause, Steve primarily comprises the same materials. However, it is seen at lower latitudes, where it manifests as a mauve-colored light streak with recognizable green bands, commonly called a picket fence.

Steve is a frustratingly hard-to-identify character. It accompanies auroras with little regularity. Canadian photographer Donna Lach, based in Manitoba, pointed out that finding Steve might sometimes be a matter of luck.

Lach has probably seen and taken pictures of Steve about two dozen times, an uncommon accomplishment for a sky photographer. She says she works on her family's farm in a secluded area in southern Manitoba where there is little to no light pollution.