On August 7th and 8th, an unexpected solar storm event on Earth showed a mysterious and rare celestial phenomenon called STEVE or Strong Thermal Radiation Velocity Enhancement. What is it and how can it affect us? I understand.
We’ve always associated solar storms with aurora displays, damage to man-made satellites, radio outages, and GPS jamming, but it turns out that solar storms can cause more mysterious phenomena than that. The surprise solar storm on August 7 and 8 caused a strange cosmic phenomenon that baffled even scientists. Many have reported seeing a bright stream of light in the sky unlike any other aurora. The question that arises now is what was this stunning light and can it affect us in any way?
The event was first reported by SpaceWeather.com, which noted on its website: “During yesterday’s surprise geomagnetic storm, hot streaks of plasma swept through Earth’s magnetosphere. The name of this phenomenon is “STIVE” — short for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement. It was also observed in Montana and Pennsylvania”.
The mysterious phenomenon that is born from a solar storm is called STEVE
STEVE was seen in many places in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere and reportedly lasted about 40 minutes to an hour. Although not much is known about these purple streams of light, we do know some facts about them.
STEVE is a very recent discovery. It was first observed in 2017 by citizen scientists and aurora hunters in northern Canada, according to Live Science. The purple glow is caused by extremely hot (more than 3,000 degrees Celsius) bands of gas moving through Earth’s magnetosphere. These bands of gas typically move much faster than the surrounding air, and when they come into contact with the radiation of solar storms, they emit a band of glowing color. They are different from auroras because they are not caused by solar radiation colliding with oxygen and nitrogen atoms through a process called refraction.
Although this is still a superficial understanding of the chemical and physical activities that take place to cause this strange phenomenon, it does make for a stunning view of the sky. As for whether it could affect us, there is no evidence so far that these light displays are harmful in any way to us or the planet.
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