Posted on 11/17/2020 3:17:02 PM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: What's creating these long glowing streaks in the sky? No one is sure. Known as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs), these luminous light-purple sky ribbons may resemble regular auroras, but recent research reveals significant differences. A STEVE's great length and unusual colors, when measured precisely, indicate that it may be related to a subauroral ion drift (SAID), a supersonic river of hot atmospheric ions thought previously to be invisible. Some STEVEs are now also thought to be accompanied by green picket fence structures, a series of sky slats that can appear outside of the main auroral oval that does not involve much glowing nitrogen. The featured wide-angle composite image shows a STEVE in a dark sky above Childs Lake, Manitoba, Canada in 2017, crossing in front of the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy.
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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then zoom by moving the magnifying glass over an area and then clicking. The side bars will move the zoomed area over the photograph.
Pinging the APOD list.
I could not find the cat.
Awesome picture...
Open a can of cat food and like magic, the cat will appear!
I guess it is because it is "invisible"!
I can never find the cat, the dog, or anything else. Oh, once I did find the subcontinent of India in a nebula somewhere .... :-)
But the pic is just absolutely stupendous.
WOW!
I see the cat, but does the cat see the mouse?
I had a ‘glowing Steve’ but the doc gave me some pills and I got better.
give me a clue
Looks like a giant space goose.
To me it looks like a Grubhub driver delivering my Wendy’s double cheeseburger.
The cat is on the ground in the shadows just to the left of the tree trunk. There’s some white in its face otherwise you would never see it.
During the peak of solar cycle 23, while watching auroras from Wind Cave N.P., we saw STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) crossing the Milky Way, at about a 90* angle. No color, per se; just a long, narrow wand of pale grayish lavender or purple, at our zenith. It appeared from the western horizon, and faded out to the east, just past the Milky Way.
We were so, ‘WTF?’ & thinking it was just an odd cloud or contrail remains, that I didn’t snap any shots of it.
Back then, we had never heard of proton arcs... since redesignated STEVE, since protons have nothing to do with it.
Haven’t seen ‘him’ since.
huzzah for me
(and about time, too!)
:)
Beautiful! It takes my breath away! God is truly amazing!
Yeah.....
Yeah.....
I can see that.....
Sorry, I can’t.
Well, I’m relieved. I was afraid “A Glowing STEVE” was until recently a “Security” crewman on Star Trek.
Great pic, anyway!
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