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APOD: STEVE and Milky Way Cross over Rural... (2023 Sep 27)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 4:06 am
by APOD Robot
STEVE and Milky Way Cross over Rural Road
Explanation: Not every road ends in a STEVE. A week ago, a sky enthusiast's journey began with a goal: to photograph an
aurora over
Lake Huron. Driving through rural
Ontario,
Canada, the forecasted sky show started
unexpectedly early, causing the photographer to stop before arriving at the scenic
Great Lake. Aurora images were taken toward the north -- but over land, not sea. While waiting for a second round of auroras, a
peculiar band of light was noticed to the west. Slowly, the photographer and friends realized that this western band was likely an unusual type of aurora: a
Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE). Moreover, this
STEVE was putting on quite a show: appearing intertwined with the central band of our
Milky Way Galaxy while intersecting the horizon just near the end of the country road. After capturing
this cosmic X on camera, the photographer paused to appreciate the
unexpected awesomeness of finding extraordinary beauty in an ordinary setting.
Re: APOD: STEVE and Milky Way Cross over Rural... (2023 Sep 27)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 1:34 pm
by Roy
A ribbon of hot plasma at 280 miles high moving at 19,600 feet per second is quite amazing . Six and a half times the velocity of a rifle bullet at sea level.
Re: APOD: STEVE and Milky Way Cross over Rural... (2023 Sep 27)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 7:50 pm
by johnnydeep
Though I have never heard of "STEVE"s before, Wikipedia says they are apparently not rare (for some definition of 'rare'):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STEVE wrote:STEVE ("Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement") is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that appears as a purple and green light ribbon in the sky, named in late 2016 by aurora watchers from Alberta, Canada. According to analysis of satellite data from the European Space Agency's Swarm mission, the phenomenon is caused by a 25 km (16 mi) wide ribbon of hot plasma at an altitude of 450 km (280 mi), with a temperature of 3,000 °C (3,270 K; 5,430 °F) and flowing at a speed of 6 km/s (3.7 mi/s) (compared to 10 m/s (33 ft/s) outside the ribbon).
The phenomenon is not rare, but had not been investigated and described scientifically prior to that time.[1][2][3]
Re: APOD: STEVE and Milky Way Cross over Rural... (2023 Sep 27)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 8:58 pm
by orin stepanek
Extra ordinary beauty is right!
Extra ordinary kitty!
![clapping :clap:](./images/smilies/asterisk_clap.gif)