STEVE
© 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;
STEVE
© 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