Photographers looking for Aurora Australis capture mysterious phenomenon

October 15, 2024 7:53 PM

Photographers looking for Aurora Australis capture mysterious phenomenon Steve instead. People looking for the Aurora Australis have been surprised to see another phenomenon lighting up the night sky — and it goes by the name Steve.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (13 comments total)

Prvsly
posted by theora55 at 8:00 PM on October 15

From one of the previous links: "Why Steve? Well, this is a reference to the popular children’s movie Over the Hedge where one of the characters isn’t sure what he is looking at and randomly names it Steve."
posted by tofu_crouton at 8:01 PM on October 15 [3 favorites]

Sadly, not named after Steve Irwin, which was my first thought. "It's just Steve, chasing crocs in Heaven ..."
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 9:41 PM on October 15 [2 favorites]

Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement... 25km-wide ribbon of gas. Seems like a bit of a preposterous hypothesis.
posted by 1xdevnet at 9:41 PM on October 15 [3 favorites]

Brilliant!
posted by j_curiouser at 11:52 PM on October 15

My dad's name is Steve. Can't wait to share this with him.
posted by Smedly, Butlerian jihadi at 4:09 AM on October 16

So fun. Us Borealis viewers up here may have seen a similar thing if the still shots of a more light spire like thing are any indicator. Northwestern sky

... alongside an illuminated stable auroral red (SAR) arc in the south, and just constant discoloration of the night sky Thursday evening EDT. Big burst around 10p.

Thanks so much!
posted by JoeXIII007 at 4:51 AM on October 16

Scientists are such nerds but in a super fun way. I love things like Steve and the Thagomizer where scientists are like 'yeah, we think that's funny too, so now it's officially funny.'
posted by jacquilynne at 6:04 AM on October 16 [4 favorites]

“Steve” made me think of Delaney’s novel Dalghren and how they named the second moon that just appears in the night sky over Bellona “George.”
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:28 AM on October 16

Eh, Steve.
posted by borborygmi at 10:56 AM on October 16

I definitely saw this phenomenon in North Carolina during the solar flare auroras. It was so different than the shifting color fields. I had no idea Steve was a separate thing!
posted by ananci at 2:39 PM on October 16

This feels very Welcome to Night Vale.
posted by grandiloquiet at 3:12 PM on October 16

Unfortunately, what comes to my mind during this solar maximum is the Carrington Event. The coronal mass ejection of that started fires in telegraph offices -- the internet of the 19th century. A Carrington Event today and goodbye satellites, long distance powerlines, smartphones, their rechargers and the internet of today. Back to the stone age for all humanity. Not the most cheery thought.

Which brings to mind the maxim of La Rochefoucauld:

Neither the sun nor death can be looked at with a steady eye.
posted by y2karl at 12:58 AM on October 17 [1 favorite]