© Wil CheungSTEVE Taken by Wil Cheung on November 5, 2023 @ Whitley Bay, England. "Strong aurora last night off the Coast of North East England, Greens and reds by eye , much further south STEVE was above and south of me at 55 degrees North, lasting about an hour"
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
Two CMEs hit Earth over the weekend--one on Saturday, Nov. 4th, another on Sunday, Nov. 5th. The double blow sparked a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm with auroras as far south as Colorado (+40.1N) and Texas (+33.6N). The storm is now subsiding with isolated periods of minor G1-class storming expected through Nov. 6th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
NOT ALL THE LIGHTS WERE AURORAS
At the apex of the storm, bright lights danced across the skies of northern Europe. Not all the lights were auroras. "To our utter amazement we observed a striking phenomenon," reports Martin McKenna of Swatragh, N. Ireland. "It was STEVE!"
"We were blown away by the intensity of the purple beam," continues McKenna."We could see it plainly with the naked eye, swelling and flickering in brilliance with delicate structures like those seen within a feather. My mate Conor likened it to a celestial funnel cloud or tornado changing form in real time."
STEVE is a recent discovery.
Comment: A recent discovery that is not only occurring with an increasing frequency, but is being sighted in areas not known such phenomena. It's also telling that this seemingly sudden appearance of STEVE is occurring alongside a number of other rare and unusual atmospheric phenomena, such as iridescent clouds, and TLEs (Transient Luminous Events).
It looks like an aurora, but it is not. The soft purple glow is caused by hot (3000°C) rivers of gas flowing through Earth's magnetosphere at speeds exceeding 6 km/s (13,000 mph). These rivers are energized by strong geomagnetic storms like the one that happened over the weekend.
Wil Cheung observed an even more dramatic apparition of STEVE over Whitley Bay, England:
"It lasted for more than an hour," marvels Cheung. "Strong auroras danced in the north while STEVE flowed through the sky to my south."
Although our understanding of STEVE has rapidly progressed over the past few years, there are still many unsolved mysteries about the phenomenon. Every sighting is about 75% enigma. Did you see STEVE? Submit your images here.
more images of STEVE: from Paul Urwin of Seaburn, Sunderland, England; from Dave Stocks of Brotton, UK;
© Martin McKennaRare Stevie Proton Arc Over N. Ireland!!!
Taken by Martin McKenna on November 5, 2023 @ Swatragh, N. Ireland. What a show!!!, my mate Conor McDonald and I met up to watch the aurora from a location called Swatragh near a wind turbine farm. When we arrived it was cloudy, then suddenly breaks began to appear, then to our utter amazement we observed a striking phenomena. Extending from the western sky was a naked eye glowing straight beam, which passed high across the south, then into the east beside planet Jupiter where it swelled in brilliance. This was our first ever sighting of a proton arc or Stevie. We were blown away by its intensity, with the naked eye the phenomena swelled and flickered in brilliance while display delicate structures like those seen within a feather. My mate Conor likened it to a celestial funnel cloud or tornado changing form in real time which was surreal. The camera picked up vivid pink and red colours. The aurora itself was the best I've seen here since the last solar max with beams reaching beyond Polaris and extending across 120 degrees of sky rite into the east within Auriga. With the naked eye we could see green, red, orange and yellow colours with ease. The numerous rays cutting through the scattered foreground was like watching celestial swords slicing through the sky. We experienced three major outbursts which were spectacular. What a show indeed!
Photographer's website: https://www.nightskyhunter.com
Taken by Martin McKenna on November 5, 2023 @ Swatragh, N. Ireland. What a show!!!, my mate Conor McDonald and I met up to watch the aurora from a location called Swatragh near a wind turbine farm. When we arrived it was cloudy, then suddenly breaks began to appear, then to our utter amazement we observed a striking phenomena. Extending from the western sky was a naked eye glowing straight beam, which passed high across the south, then into the east beside planet Jupiter where it swelled in brilliance. This was our first ever sighting of a proton arc or Stevie. We were blown away by its intensity, with the naked eye the phenomena swelled and flickered in brilliance while display delicate structures like those seen within a feather. My mate Conor likened it to a celestial funnel cloud or tornado changing form in real time which was surreal. The camera picked up vivid pink and red colours. The aurora itself was the best I've seen here since the last solar max with beams reaching beyond Polaris and extending across 120 degrees of sky rite into the east within Auriga. With the naked eye we could see green, red, orange and yellow colours with ease. The numerous rays cutting through the scattered foreground was like watching celestial swords slicing through the sky. We experienced three major outbursts which were spectacular. What a show indeed!
Photographer's website: https://www.nightskyhunter.com
Comment: More stunning images of the auroral activity can be found at the end of this comment, and, as you will read in the statements from the photographers, many of whom are seasoned observers, it was widely considered to be a record breaking evening, with exceptional and rare colours, intensity, at unusually low latitudes, and for longer periods of time.
This is notable because the current solar cycle activity has taken NOAA experts by surprise. It's now expected to peak much sooner, and stronger, than they had forecast. So much so that they've overhauled their reporting system and instead of making year-long predictions, they will instead be shifting to monthly reporting, in order to stay on top of the rapidly changing situation.
The speculation within mainstream science is that some of these changes are due to the approaching solar maximum, however not all of these changes were noted during the peak of solar cycle, 24.
Taken together, there appears to be a significant shift occurring on our planet:
- NOAA scientists finally admit their solar cycle 25 predictions are WRONG, peak is approaching faster than expected
- Powerful Solar storm has unusually strong impact on Earth, delays SpaceX rocket launch, stalls oil rigs in Canada
- Mysterious 'aurora disco blobs' seen across Europe during April geomagnetic storm explained
- "The Dunes": NEW type of aurora discovered, and the unexpected physics behind it
- Rare ELVE photographed during intense lightning storm over Italy
- Rare blue jet atmospheric phenomenon photographed over Texas, several sighted in one night
- Cosmic climate change: 'Space plasma hurricane' observed in ionosphere above North Pole!
- Our changing atmosphere: Stunning iridescent cloud over Mexico, complex solar halo over Russia and a triple rainbow over Norway
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