`Steve' returns

For the third time in about a year `Steve' returned to Shetland. On the 7 October 2018 `Steve' was seen over Sandness on the west side during a brief gap in the clouds. The arrival coincided with a Severe Aurora alert and was also see in Orkney

Originally Steve was thought to be a rare Aurora but a recent study claims that in fact it is an unknown Phenomenon which is baffling scientists.

 Although Steve ( Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancer) has been know for about 100 years its only recently that studies have found its nothing to do with the Aurora. Steve can be identified as a ribbon like purple emission during an aurora but slightly south to the Auroral band

In 2016 the Scientific community started to study Steve, originally thought to be a proton arc. Now the study has said it may be a kind of `skyglow' not associated with either the Aurora or airglow. Skyglow is normally associated with light pollution but Steve is structured and distinct.

Steve is massive, stretching east - west for thousands of miles and tens of miles wide north to south, a very impressive and a rare sight in the northern skies

Steve then re appeared in another big storm a few days later, that's the fourth time Steve has been seen in Shetland in the last year.

More of Steve

It was superb seeing `Steve' with possibly two ribbons showing, this was confirmed by NASA later. I have submitted my `Steve' photos to Aurorasaurus  who collect information on `Steve'. Check back on the previous blog http://shetlandsky.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/steve-rare-aurora-in-shetland.html for more information

After reviewing many photos posted on Shetland Aurora Hunter on facebook i was surprised that more people failed to connect with `Steve'

One person thought it was a odd cloud formation and didn't bother photographing it, another two wanted to get to too many locations and missed Steve when driving. Always try and get to one spot and ideally go to the location in the day and see how many mini spots can be used for different photos

In these two (top and bottom) you can see Steve breaking up, its like an elastic band breaking and causing a vibration in the atmosphere

If i never see it again i will always remember the night.

March will go down as a virtually spotless month and so far this year there has been 58% of it without sunspots. These increase the chance of an Aurora but as can be seen above it doesn't always require sunspots for a fantastic Aurora to occur. The solar minimum will occur 2019/20 then it will start to get better again.

` Steve' rare Aurora in Shetland

Last Sunday 18 March 2018 will go down as one of the best but most unexpected Aurora displays we have seen so far in Shetland

The forecast was for a moderate display, so on a clear wind free night we headed out over to Bigton

As soon as we arrived we could see the Aurora with our naked eye, it was very active with pillars of colour above the large dense green area

After about 10 mins I notices a band overhead and immediately recognised this as `Steve', a vary rare form of Aurora. Steve or Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement has only recently been discovered

It appears as a distinct purple ribbons with green edges and it constantly moving across the sky. NASA indicates that is can be found at low altitudes than the normal Aurora

The European Space Agency who has been studying this, has published a detail account in the journal Science Advances (March 14). Since it was discovered it has been seen in the UK, New Zealand, Alaska, Canada and the northern United States.

According to NASA Steve can be found south and lower down the normal Aurora activity and can last anything from 20 mins up to an hour. It stretches East - West. A green colour associated with Steve is usually short lived

It is also known by some astrophotographers as a Proton Arc but in fact it is a subauroral Arc.

A Proton Arc is subvisual, diffused and broad where as this Subauroral Arc is narrow, bright and structured

It seems that it was first seen in 2015 and has been viewable about 30 times. Observations occur when there is increased Aurora activity

Steve seems to connect to different magnetic field lines closer to the equator so it is seen further south than the normal Aurora. When we saw it, it was overhead about  60 degree north originally seen as a long purple line then it split and looked like a broken line. Some think its like an elastic band which when it breaks causes a charge particles bounce back towards earth. This may have been caught below because just after it faded away

see more on Facebook at Shetland Aurora Hunter.

More Steve photos to come in the next blog