Steve Returns in the Sky over Northern England

[gortex]

Last night Northern England and Scotland were treated to a display of the aurora borealis and with it came Steve , Steve is not an aurora but it is related to it.


There have been reports of Steve for decades if not hundreds of years but it wasn't until 2016 that Steve was recognised and given its name by a Canadian Aurora watcher which brought it to my attention , the name comes from an animated movie called "Over the Hedge" 

In it, a group of animals awake from hibernation to find what to them is another awe-inspiring phenomenon - a big garden hedge.
"What is this thing?" one creature says.
"I'd be a lot less afraid of it if I just knew what it was called," another says, before a squirrel recommends calling it Steve.
"I'm a lot less scared of Steve," another animal replies.

While Steve is only spotted in the presence of an aurora, it is not a normal aurora as scientists suggests it comprises of a fast-moving stream of extremely hot particles called a subauroral ion drift, or SAID.

As Steve is unpredictable and only lasts for a short time, recording occurrences from the ground is rare.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67331747

Glad to see Steve return but kinda gutted that I didn't get to see the Aurora or Steve in person but I'm happy to share the visit with RN

[quintessentone]

Last night Northern England and Scotland were treated to a display of the aurora borealis and with it came Steve , Steve is not an aurora but it is related to it.


There have been reports of Steve for decades if not hundreds of years but it wasn't until 2016 that Steve was recognised and given its name by a Canadian Aurora watcher which brought it to my attention , the name comes from an animated movie called "Over the Hedge" 

In it, a group of animals awake from hibernation to find what to them is another awe-inspiring phenomenon - a big garden hedge.
"What is this thing?" one creature says.
"I'd be a lot less afraid of it if I just knew what it was called," another says, before a squirrel recommends calling it Steve.
"I'm a lot less scared of Steve," another animal replies.

While Steve is only spotted in the presence of an aurora, it is not a normal aurora as scientists suggests it comprises of a fast-moving stream of extremely hot particles called a subauroral ion drift, or SAID.

As Steve is unpredictable and only lasts for a short time, recording occurrences from the ground is rare.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67331747

Glad to see Steve return but kinda gutted that I didn't get to see the Aurora or Steve in person but I'm happy to share the visit with RN

There are scientists that recently studied all types of aurora and that's where I found out about Steve. I can't recall what the documentary was titled at the moment. It is amazing that scientists are finding new discoveries all the time.

[ChiefD]

Wow, awesome pic! I never heard of this Steve thing, learn something new every day. I hope I get to see one in my lifetime.

[BodhisattvaStyle]

Now this is cool! 
As Chief D said, I've learned something new today. I had seen the rise in "northern light" recently, but haven't come across this yet.

I bet that was epic to see in person.

[sailorsam]

fascinating to think we've had Steves and sprites and those undulating clouds all this time but they weren't recognized till recently.
there was an animal--I think the Pygmy Hippo--that official science refused to accept for decades.  'oh that's just a small regular hippo'.