娛樂

【】

字号+作者:囫圇吞棗網来源:百科2025-04-24 20:25:48我要评论(0)

Named "Steve," the swathes of purple light filling skies over Regina, Canada, spurred plenty of intr

Named "Steve," the swathes of purple light filling skies over Regina, Canada, spurred plenty of intrigue when discovered by citizen scientists.

The lights, the likes of which locals had never seen before, were understood by scientists to be a new aurora. Or so they thought.

SEE ALSO:YouTube's women of STEM make learning about science fun

Turns out "Steve," which stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, is no aurora. It's an entirely new celestial phenomenon, with a different atmospheric process to an aurora.

The conclusion was made by researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada, who authored a study which was published in Geophysical Research Letters.

"So right now, we know very little about it," Bea Gallardo-Lacourt, a space physicist and the study's lead author, said in a statement online.

Mashable Light SpeedWant more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter.By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Thanks for signing up!

"And that's the cool thing, because this has been known by photographers for decades. But for the scientists, it’s completely unknown."

Mashable ImageCredit: Getty Images

Researchers refer to "Steve" as a "skyglow," to make it distinct from an aurora. Auroras are produced when charged particles from the sun collide with the magnetic fields in Earth's ionised upper atmosphere (the ionosphere), generating a stunning light display.

A NOAA satellite, POES-17, didn't detect any charged particles raining down to Earth's upper atmosphere when "Steve" took place, likely suggesting the "skyglow" could be a result of something else completely.

The next step for researchers is to see if streams of fast ions and hot electrons in the ionosphere are responsible for "Steve," or if the light is produced in higher atmosphere.

So "Steve," what the heck are you?


Featured Video For You
An ancient human species went extinct because it was 'lazy'

1.本站遵循行业规范,任何转载的稿件都会明确标注作者和来源;2.本站的原创文章,请转载时务必注明文章作者和来源,不尊重原创的行为我们将追究责任;3.作者投稿可能会经我们编辑修改或补充。

相关文章
  • Make money or go to Stanford? Katie Ledecky is left with an unfair choice.

    Make money or go to Stanford? Katie Ledecky is left with an unfair choice.

    2025-04-24 19:23

  • 被打傻了?阿爾巴曬巴薩更衣室慶祝照 卡瓦哈爾點讚

    被打傻了 ?阿爾巴曬巴薩更衣室慶祝照 卡瓦哈爾點讚

    2025-04-24 19:20

  • 巴黎前瞻:梅西因病缺席 主場被噓客場反成利好�?

    巴黎前瞻:梅西因病缺席 主場被噓客場反成利好?

    2025-04-24 18:33

  • 巴黎徹底亂了!更衣室分裂兩派 無領袖願挺身而出

    巴黎徹底亂了!更衣室分裂兩派 無領袖願挺身而出

    2025-04-24 17:50

网友点评