Earth and Environment Atlas

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Phenomena

STEVE

Meteorology

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STEVE is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that appears as a narrow ribbon of purple and green light in the night sky. Unlike a traditional aurora, it is not produced by particle precipitation but instead originates from a ribbon of extremely hot, fast moving plasma flowing through the ionosphere. The phenomenon was identified and named by aurora watchers in Alberta, Canada in 2016, and the backronym Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement was later adopted by NASA researchers studying the newly documented display.

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