Amateur scientists in Canada have helped researchers discover a new type of northern lights.
The glowing ribbon of purple sa国际传媒� and sometimes green sa国际传媒� that runs east-west in the night sky has been observed and photographed by aurora borealis chasers for years.
sa国际传媒淢y involvement is being the goofball who named it Steve,sa国际传媒� said Chris Ratzlaff, a Calgary photographer whosa国际传媒檚 a co-author of a research paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
sa国际传媒� Phenomenal Steve (@StevePhenomena)
The luminous light, distinct from traditional aurora, was previously undocumented in scientific literature and little was known about how it formed.
What has been learned by scientists at NASA and various universities is that the phenomenon is associated with a subauroral ion drift sa国际传媒� a powerful current created by charged particles in the Earthsa国际传媒檚 upper atmosphere. The arc is an optical manifestation of that ion drift.
The research started four or five years ago with the Alberta Aurora Chasers, a Facebook group Ratzlaff helps manage that has grown to about 16,000 members.
sa国际传媒淲e have a lot of people who are out staring at the night sky. They are looking up for the northern lights,sa国际传媒� he said in an interview. sa国际传媒淪ometimes Steve appears sa国际传媒� and Steve is a phenomenon that kind of likes to hang out over Alberta, over the prairies.sa国际传媒�
Photographers put together a large picture library of Steve and took it to scientists at the University of Calgary and, later, to NASA.
Eric Donovan, an associate professor in the department of physics and astronomy at the university, hosted a guest lecture in 2014 by NASA physicist Elizabeth MacDonald.
sa国际传媒淭he room was packed and, not only that, it was packed with people I didnsa国际传媒檛 know,sa国际传媒� said Donovan.
They were members of the aurora chasers group who were involved in MacDonaldsa国际传媒檚 Aurorasaurus project, which captures descriptions of northern lights on social media to help researchers better understand them.
After the talk, the two scientists went to a nearby pub with some of the aurora chasers.
sa国际传媒淭hey started showing me their beautiful, beautiful photos of aurora,sa国际传媒� said Donovan.
One of the photographers suggested he got a picture of the proton arc, a rare type of aurora.
sa国际传媒淭here is such a thing as proton aurora, but itsa国际传媒檚 always sub-visual so they wouldnsa国际传媒檛 even know to point a camera to take a picture of it,sa国际传媒� said Donovan. sa国际传媒淏ut I said, sa国际传媒榃hy donsa国际传媒檛 you show me what yousa国际传媒檝e got?sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淗e showed me this beautiful picture of this thing and I donsa国际传媒檛 know what this thing is sa国际传媒� and thatsa国际传媒檚 really amazing because Isa国际传媒檝e probably looked at more photos of the aurora that any other living person on the planet right now.sa国际传媒�
The photographers said they had been seeing it fairly regularly.
Donovan told him they couldnsa国际传媒檛 call it a proton arc, because it didnsa国际传媒檛 fit the physical properties. He suggested it needed a non-scientific name.
sa国际传媒淚 proposed we call it Steve and it stuck,sa国际传媒� said Ratzlaff.
Itsa国际传媒檚 a reference to the animated movie sa国际传媒淥ver the Hedgesa国际传媒� about animals that encounter a giant hedge in their neighbourhood and get scared because they donsa国际传媒檛 know what it is.
sa国际传媒淭he squirrel comes up and says, sa国际传媒楲etsa国际传媒檚 call it Stevesa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� and they are all OK with it.sa国际传媒�
Ratzlaff said Steve was just meant to be a temporary name, but scientists have decided to keep it sa国际传媒� only it now stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.
Scientists will now try to get a spectrum sa国际传媒� or band of colours sa国际传媒� for Steve by going back to the aurora chasers with a spectrograph theysa国际传媒檝e attached to a digital camera.
sa国际传媒淭hey are going to drive around and they are going to see Steve sometime in the next few months and they are going to get us a spectrum,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淲hen we get the spectrum, wesa国际传媒檒l see the real science starting.sa国际传媒�
By Colette Derworiz in Edmonton
The Canadian Press
