Amateur scientists in Canada have helped researchers discover a new type of northern lights.
The glowing ribbon of purple 91裸聊视频� and sometimes green 91裸聊视频� that runs east-west in the night sky has been observed and photographed by aurora borealis chasers for years.
91裸聊视频淢y involvement is being the goofball who named it Steve,91裸聊视频� said Chris Ratzlaff, a Calgary photographer who91裸聊视频檚 a co-author of a research paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.
91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频� a powerful current created by charged particles in the Earth91裸聊视频檚 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.
91裸聊视频淲e have a lot of people who are out staring at the night sky. They are looking up for the northern lights,91裸聊视频� he said in an interview. 91裸聊视频淪ometimes Steve appears 91裸聊视频� and Steve is a phenomenon that kind of likes to hang out over Alberta, over the prairies.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淭he room was packed and, not only that, it was packed with people I didn91裸聊视频檛 know,91裸聊视频� said Donovan.
They were members of the aurora chasers group who were involved in MacDonald91裸聊视频檚 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.
91裸聊视频淭hey started showing me their beautiful, beautiful photos of aurora,91裸聊视频� said Donovan.
One of the photographers suggested he got a picture of the proton arc, a rare type of aurora.
91裸聊视频淭here is such a thing as proton aurora, but it91裸聊视频檚 always sub-visual so they wouldn91裸聊视频檛 even know to point a camera to take a picture of it,91裸聊视频� said Donovan. 91裸聊视频淏ut I said, 91裸聊视频榃hy don91裸聊视频檛 you show me what you91裸聊视频檝e got?91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淗e showed me this beautiful picture of this thing and I don91裸聊视频檛 know what this thing is 91裸聊视频� and that91裸聊视频檚 really amazing because I91裸聊视频檝e probably looked at more photos of the aurora that any other living person on the planet right now.91裸聊视频�
The photographers said they had been seeing it fairly regularly.
Donovan told him they couldn91裸聊视频檛 call it a proton arc, because it didn91裸聊视频檛 fit the physical properties. He suggested it needed a non-scientific name.
91裸聊视频淚 proposed we call it Steve and it stuck,91裸聊视频� said Ratzlaff.
It91裸聊视频檚 a reference to the animated movie 91裸聊视频淥ver the Hedge91裸聊视频� about animals that encounter a giant hedge in their neighbourhood and get scared because they don91裸聊视频檛 know what it is.
91裸聊视频淭he squirrel comes up and says, 91裸聊视频楲et91裸聊视频檚 call it Steve91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� and they are all OK with it.91裸聊视频�
Ratzlaff said Steve was just meant to be a temporary name, but scientists have decided to keep it 91裸聊视频� only it now stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.
Scientists will now try to get a spectrum 91裸聊视频� or band of colours 91裸聊视频� for Steve by going back to the aurora chasers with a spectrograph they91裸聊视频檝e attached to a digital camera.
91裸聊视频淭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,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淲hen we get the spectrum, we91裸聊视频檒l see the real science starting.91裸聊视频�
By Colette Derworiz in Edmonton
The Canadian Press
