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Not all science is carried out by folks in white lab coats under the fluorescent lights of academic buildings. Occasionally, the trajectory of the scientific record is forever altered inside a pub over a pint of beer.
Such is the case for the sweeping purple and green lights that can hover over the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere. The phenomenon looks like an aurora but is in fact something entirely different.
It’s called Steve.
The rare light spectacle has caused a bit of buzz this year as the sun is entering its most active period, ramping up the number of dazzling natural phenomena that appear in the night sky — and leading to new reports of people spotting Steve in areas it does not typically appear, such as parts of the United Kingdom.
But about eight years ago, when Elizabeth MacDonald, a space physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, was in Calgary, Alberta, for a seminar, she had never seen the phenomenon in person. And it did not yet have a name.
In fact, few scientists actively studying auroras and other night-sky phenomenon had witnessed a Steve, which appears closer to the equator than auroras and is characterized by a purple-pink arch accompanied by green, vertical stripes.
After MacDonald gave a talk at a nearby university, she met up with some citizen scientists — mostly photographers who spend nights hoping to capture the next stunning image of colors dancing in the Canadian sky — at Kilkenny Irish Pub.
“I had already been reaching out to the local Alberta aurora chasers (in) a Facebook group, which was pretty small at the time,” MacDonald said, “but very keen to share their observations and to interact with NASA.”
The photographers came with their photos in hand, anxious to show the mysterious light show they had captured.
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