An "Aurora" called Steve | Unsolved Mystery in Physics

This mysterious long thin "Aurora" was first spotted in 2015/16 by Aurora chasers in Canada but it wasn't long before an expert saw their photos and said it wasn't like any Aurora that we'd ever seen before. The Aurora chasers dubbed this phenomenon "Steve" but we still don't understand what Steve actually is. Turns out NASA needs your help...
Gallardo-Lacourt et al. (2018): agupubs.online...
MacDonald et al. (2018): advances.scienc...
Upload your sightings of Steve to NASA's citizen science project here: www.aurorasauru...
And a big 👋 to all my Canadian subscribers.
Don't forget to subscribe and click the little bell icon to be notified when I post a new video!
I also present videos on Sixty Symbols: / sixtysymbols
and Deep Sky Videos: / deepskyvideos
Dr. Becky Smethurst is a Junior Research Fellow at Christ Church at the University of Oxford.
drbecky.uk.com

[@scottwatrous]

I was into the whole video but the song at the end was fire.

[@KenMathis1]

I'm calling it now. It's aliens:) S.T.E.V.E. (Strong Thermal Extraterrestrial Vehicle Emissions)

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Top comment. How long did you think about it? haha.

[@KenMathis1]

It only took about one S.T.E.V.E. (Short Temporal Empty Vacuous Event)

[@Poey12]

It took me a number of STEVEs to realize that STEVE actually stands for Strangely Tempting Entirely Vain Exercise

[@KenMathis1]

If this continues, we'll have to create a STEVE (STEVE Tally of Every Variant Entered) to keep them straight.

[@RobertSirois]

@@KenMathis1 Uh oh... if we keep this up the Superfluous Tokenization of English Verbiage Enforcement guys might catch wind and shut it down...

[@choochoochooseyou]

Love your enthusiasm, Becky.

[@Steve_V1066]

I've got an Aurora named after me! :) Thanks so much for your videos, I really do enjoy how well you take difficult subjects and make them easier to understand. Your hard work is appreciated.

[@DrBecky]

Thanks! I love making them too 🤗

[@asshatteryengaged813]

@@DrBecky - Your intellect and charisma brighten my Wednesdays. Thank you! 😊👍

[@vikranttyagiRN]

Steve you have got a victory.

[@DavidLindes]

Great vid... love the song at the end! Fascinating stuff; curious to understand what we learn in time!

[@concinnity9676]

Dr. Becky, could you please end each video with a newly written song about the subject, as you did here? It is enchanting.

[@DrBecky]

I wish I wrote that song! It’s most definitely Taylor Swift though...

[@griseobarba7989]

Someone finally recognized me for my true greatness. You'd think more would be named after me.🖖😎

[@lagomoof]

Have we observed Antarctic Steve? Since it's seasonal I'm thinking that Earth's magnetic tilt (which isn't far off the axis tilt) relative to the direction of the solar wind must have something to do with it, so Antarctic Steve ought to be six months out of step, and visible when Steve isn't and vice versa. Spring/Autumn could be weak times for both Steves, one getting weaker as the other gets stronger.

[@_notch]

I'm really digging this channel! Thank you for the funformation!

[@bagleybadger2867]

I love that you're a Swiftie, I catch all the references 🤣

[@herblapp]

See your fun nail activities that are so cool. Where were the astrophysicists like you when l was at university??? Better late than never. You are tops!

[@erikthedragongeek7657]

Dr. Becky, as lovely and fun to watch as ever, your videos are always a pleasure to see

[@chrissscottt]

Nice singing voice.

[@robbikebob]

So when my friends ask why I'm looking up at the night sky and I say I'm looking for Steve, they're not going to think I've gone mad are they? By the way, when are you going to be releasing the album 'Dr Becky sings', I wish to order my copy.

[@cadenrolland5250]

They should have called it Waldo then. At least you'd be seen as less crazy then and get a nicer rubber room.

[@TheBigDabrofski]

Nice work Dr. Becky. Love your vids, keep it up pls.

[@s_kill_it4996]

This made my year, Thank you Dr. Becky

[@kennethhicks2113]

Congrats Dr! Look forward to seeing more physics on the net : )

[@edp2260]

"Steve" is a good reminder about what we know and what we don't know. Here is a phenomenon that is fairly common and visible, and yet until now 'undiscovered' and is still unexplained. It is all to human to fall into the 'a little knowledge is dangerous' trap, and to grossly overestimate just what you REALLY know about something.

[@67comet]

Outtakes take the cake most of the time :) .. great coverage, and thank you for making videos.

[@AvyScottandFlower]

You have a new subscriber, because of Fraser! :)

[@massimookissed1023]

I recognise you from Fraser chats :)

[@AvyScottandFlower]

@@massimookissed1023 Well hello there, fellow space-goer! :P Cheers

[@jimboAndersenReviews]

Gobsmacked. Good thing I am subscribed to this channel. Proper news coverage, about things I find interesting :3

[@BoomerReacts]

always love your videos...this is one of the most interesting

[@Veptis]

That must have been lucky to have a satellite with telemetry in there that didn't die.

[@Biomirth]

If the stream had much density it most certainly would have fried.

[@jasonlewis4569]

Theory. Charged partial are hitting the earth at the poles producing a dispersed electrical current. The cold air in Arctic acts as a superconductor and as it travels south, it hits the warmer air (produced by earth orbiting into spring where the sunlight hits more northerly regions) which acts as resistance. This causes particals to ionise within a small band producing a spike in heat and light. I believe that this may account for a) the higher energy levels at the lower temperature, b) the change in velocity within the area of the event and c) the disappearance of the event over the winter months(Northern)

[@stevegrise1571]

The very best name you can give to something beautiful ;) I have seen that kind of steve many years ago in the South East of Québec, near Drummondville. Dr. Becky, you make awesome videos ! You are my favorite an astrophysicist. Your unnatural level of enthusiasm and humour are soo much apreciated ! Keep on the good work but beware of nasty super massive black hole !!!

[@1_2_die2]

8:15 "what on earth..." and it's 300 km up in the atmosphere =) I like that pun. Thank you, Dr. Becky, and go on with the good work.

[@frankowalker4662]

I've always wanted to see an Aurora, I learnt about them as a teen in the 80's.

[@LuisAldamiz]

The difference in temperature is just brutal. 3000ºC!!! Could it be some sort of pressure wave from near outer space? This might not just explain why it is so extremely cold but also why in many cases it's associated with proper auroras. A "citizen scientist" wild guess in any case.

[@bassbs]

Just Outstanding Becky Subjects!

[@iritantNL]

You have an enjoyable voice 😃

[@MtnTow]

Disappointed that you didnt mention Mr. Chria Ratzlaff as he was a (if not THE) key person in pulling people together for this.

[@rylian21]

The song at the end made me giggle.

[@primoroy]

My first inclination is to guess it is a form of lightning discharge similar to sprite lightning, but under different circumstances that cause a long lasting diffused glow.

[@tomimantyla8236]

Oh, great and powerfull Steve! What do you want?

[@andersforsgren3806]

Aurora have been seen ín the UK, nothing strange there. Nowadays there's so much streetlights etc that people simply are not able to see it. It takes quite a dark sky to see aurora. And yes I did see a 'steve' together with a friend at a very dark location in the sub arctic. He knows aurora from living there for a lifetime and asked me, my speculation were it was some rocket or satellite that had dumped the fuel tank. But my speculation might have been a bit off then - thank you for the vid.

[@acdchook]

Have there been any sightings of Steve in the Southern Hemisphere alongside the Aurora Australis? It would be interesting to see if southern Steves would appear during the opposite half of the year, implying a tie to the local season, or if they were at the same time of year, implying a global annual cause. Or do they not exist in the southern hemisphere at all?

[@LuisAldamiz]

For all what this video said they only "exist" (are documented so far) in Canada and Britain. Surely they must exist elsewhere, else it can only be NATO.

[@aonozan]

Landing on "Of Course I Still Love You" and looking for "Steve" at sky, scientist humor at best. :D

[@UpcycleElectronics]

5:30 Steve on Steve action

[@DJ_Psy]

I'm so glad I happened upon you Dr Becky! I love your approach and enthusiasm. Move over Professor Brian "Things can only get better" Cox!

[@sillymnm9323]

On my brothers birthday in 2014, we saw what looked like steve. It was in June, but it had multiple white streaks, not one.

[@aitchpea6011]

I only heard about Steve recently, from another KZbin channel (I forget which) but they didn't go into anywhere near as much detail. It's really interesting.

[@edibleapeman2]

I hope to interview Steve in the future.

[@AuthenticDarren]

Handn't these Canadian aurora observers better team up Scandanavian and Russian observers? And, I wander if Steves are visible in the aurora australis around April and August time.

[@DrewNorthup]

I think you'll have to invert your gap... Between those two are the times it should be missing from that-a way. As for the arctic folk... I'd expect they'd spend as much time observing as arguing over alcohol types and sauna setups.

[@evileye1968]

Nooo! They misspelled my name! Seriously, thanks Becky :-)

[@patrikhjorth3291]

I guess the definition of a "Skyglow" is pretty simple: "A luminous celestial phenomenon that is not an Aurora"

[@ascetic3312]

That song at the end, though.

[@williamarmstrong7199]

In the 1980's I saw something like that in the sky just about sunset time or not long after. It seemed to be a beam that swept across the sky. Hard to see though if you looked straight at it. Maybe just something weird with my eyes perhaps. However I have been told by a specialist I have more rods and cones in my eyes than normal, whatever that means.. however always been very sensitive to movement in my peripheral vision. Flickering lights even at 60 Hz give me an instant headache.

[@erictaylor5462]

Calling it a sky glow makes sense, as it is a bit of glowing sky.

[@kreaturen]

A change of temperature of 3000 degrees?! Holy shit, how come the satelite doesn't get severely damaged?!

[@ethanpoole3443]

Only satellites in low Earth orbit will ever actually pass through Steve, and with Steve only about 25KM wide and a satellite in that orbit likely moving at speeds of 7KM/sec, or faster, they would only likely be within Steve for a few brief seconds. Combined with the fact that satellites are usually designed to resist picking up too much heat on their sun facing side (which can potentially be any side) they likely don’t pick up too much heat in those few seconds - it would be a lot like quickly waving your hand through the very hot flame of a torch - you can feel the warmth as you pass through but your hand is perfectly safe so long as you don’t hold it in the flame for too long.

[@manpetepetrop8034]

Wow! it's amazing that we still find these unresolved mysteries on our own planet, in a time where we explore the far edges of our solar system, send probes to mars and asteroids etc. This subject reminded me of upper atmospheric lightning phenomena like Elves, Sprites and Blue jets (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning) that we only learned in the past 20 years or so. I understand that this "Steve" "Aurora?" is not an atmospheric phenomenon or associated with weather anyhow. Our planet still has many scientific mysteries to find end explain...

[@justpaulo]

Two comments: 1) Finally social media were useful for something ! 2) Obviously it's aliens leaving a trace in our atmosphere after engaging their warp drives.

[@onderozenc4470]

Proton aurora is seen because of the particlelike character of proton as opposed to the spread electron aurora due to the Wavelike characteristics of the electrons.

[@Rellikplug]

I downloaded the Aurorasaurus app for apple because it sounded like a good app and neat idea plus I like the name. Unfortunately, the app is not functioning and hasn’t been updated in over 3 years.

[@sschmidtevalue]

"There's a lot of weird things about Steve." That's completely true. 🙃

[@mikearst2940]

I wonder if I saw that phenomenon once. Standing on my front porch, I noticed a vague flickering in the northern sky and thought: Could it be the aurora? We never see it so far south (a city in the U.S. Pacific Northwest - lots of light pollution here). I also noticed a long jet contrail "splitting" the sky above me. I went inside to get my wife, who has always wanted to see the aurora - then changed my mind, thinking that it might well all be gone by the time she woke up and got dressed. I was inside only a few seconds before going back to the front porch. The "jet contrail," which had extended from the zenith almost to the horizon, was gone.

[@hibiscus779]

I think Dr. Becky's vivid blue nails (traversing the aether at relativistic speeds as she is waving her fingers about) 5:01 are giving off Cherenkov radiation, which in fact resulted in Steve.

[@soberhippie]

I think one should use an article with 'STEVE'. It's one thing to fly through a steve and quite a different thing to fly through Steve. But I'm foreign so what the hell do I know.

[@stephenkoritta9656]

I'm biased, but, I believe you're right. "Steve" is a great aurora name. 😉

[@waydebosma9063]

Becky, you are a pleasure to watch. Young, beautiful, and smart. Great videos. Thanx

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

6:27 Wait, so satellites are quite capable of passing through temperatures in the many thousands of degrees? It seems preposterous to me that such a thing could be possible without extensive thermal shielding? So I guess satellite shielding is typically just that good that it is able to reflect such heat concentrations? I'm not saying it's not true, just I'm very surprised and impressed by this.

[@NGC1433]

It's at 300km altitude. There are several atoms of gas per cubic meter. It does not really matter on a physical scale of a satellite what is the temperature of gas this thin, it has the thermal mass of roughly none.

[@UCCLdIk6R5ECGtaGm7oqO-TQ]

@@NGC1433 Yes, that is interesting. I did wonder at just how dense the 'air' must be at such altitude to carry this heat. Thanks for helping me understand.

[@user-pu8ch3ih1u]

a key to dark matter or no time for energy exchange short version Energy exchange limit or limit for two point to interact. it is a bit hard to write down this thought for me. if two points have relative speed more then speed of light, they not able to interact. but they can interact through the third point. (exactly like dark matter) 1)You know how space can expand faster then light? And it also can curve? soo, it most likely can curve true it selfe. and this how it not interacting with it selfe. (in black holes space curveture length is extremely small) 2) How many time need for Sun to exchange energy with you? soo every energy exchange take some "time". There for if two point have speed difference more then C, they will have no "time" to exchange energyx, have no "time" for exchange to occure. Even if they will share same place. also you may see it as, FLT parts in more then one place at a "time" compare to us. For FLT part we in less then one place at "time". (why mass go up) it more about interaction limin then about speed of light. can be tested, if we will represent a third point. long version -dark matter in our galaxy, (most likely particles emitted by central black hole) is particles that moving faster than light. (most likely you do not "belive" in this) if i assume it is correct, then big amount of hydrogen on edge of galaxy, is where this "dark matter particles" decay after losing speed. (decay like new particles from hadron collider) -parts of dark matter alredy found, but we do not about it. (perseption(particles from hadron collider)) -particles found with hadron collider behave like a dark matter after loosing speed. -most likely there is a energy exchange speed limit in betwen two points (not sound speed), most likely it is a speed of light. (that about why we do not see dark matter, but see it interction with other(slower for it/faster for us) particles) -particles from hadron collider will be stable if placed in faster then light speed. whant to tell more, I hope this is enough to contact me. the key is a energy exchange speed limit (i want my Nobel for showing you dark matter) Best regards, Dynin A.I.

[@SaposJoint]

I've seen aurora twice when I was in northern Minnesota. Too bad I live in Texas. I never thought I'd say that..

[@stevenclark2188]

Alright! Who's playing with the plasma cannon?

[@patrikhjorth3291]

Dr Becky, may we now also refer to you as Captain Proton?

[@patrikhjorth3291]

Also, on this subject I want to share the following for your entertainment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpanXpumpsZ3nM0 Juno Reactor: High Energy Protons

[@mlguy8376]

Having lived in Ontario for two years - I know why you wouldn't see steve between Oct to Feb, no one is out taking images as it is too bloody cold ;).

[@paulm5935]

Hey Dr. Becky - What about this: You had first speculated protons, and protons = positive, therefore could this be AntiMatter which is known to occur/exist in the upper atmosphere? Not saying how or why, either, but then could this be AntiElectrons = Positrons? Would it explain the spectroscopy and still make the mass parameters agree? Just a thought (about Steve)...

[@erictaylor5462]

What was the name of super intelligent shad of blue mentioned in Hitch Hikers Guide?

[@LuisAldamiz]

Wasn't also Steve?

[@TheBradbernard17]

i love her, shes cool

[@willwarden2603]

Thanks Doc good stuff!!

[@LionidasL10]

Delightful

[@HappisakVideos]

If there is an Aurora called Steve, is there another called Alan?

No, that would be stupid... 😁

[@MichaelDonlinAwesome]

HAHAHAHAH. Awesome outro song! *get's guitar to play along*

[@jeffreyanderson6740]

We have a warm hole modulator buried on our planet. Kinda like in the movie Stargate but for real. And you need a spacecraft to travel through the gate when the worm holes open.

[@MushVPeets]

"Enhancement" is a weird choice for a natural phenomenon anyway. If we really, really insist on backronymifying everything like this, why not simply: strong thermal elevation & velocity event?

[@TheRealMirCat]

It's a BSP bloom. Bioluminescent Space Plankton

[@Emil-yd1ge]

😅

[@Biomirth]

Shhh, a space whale is coming!

[@culwin]

"There are a lot of weird things about Steve"

[@ianscott9396]

Dr Becky are there any updates on Steve in the last 2 years?

[@Peter_Jenner]

I have a friend called Steve and after twenty years he is still a mystery to me. ....maybe I could get a citizen science project happening on him ...hmmmm.

[@auroranotify]

This was documented decades before in science, just never named that name. Also, this was discussed YEARS prior to the Alberta group even being formed, from Aurora Borealis Notifications facebook group.

[@NitroReviewsMN]

"Where did you get that preposterous hypothesis? Did Steve tell you that, perchance? Mmmph, Steve" .....lol hope you get the reference lol

[@erictaylor5462]

I think I've seen a Steve, thinking it was an aurora.

[@stevo381]

I’m so proud to have an aurora named after me It looks like a comet through the sky 💫

[@bruinflight1]

I think they should have called it Aurora McAuroraface. That would have prevented any backronym or other 'poortmanteau'

[@adamdaniels4797]

Is Steve seen in the southern hemisphere as well? Maybe October to February?

[@jajwarehouse1]

Steve would seem to be easily explained as an occurance of an electron avalanche generated from the aurora. This would also explain the seasonality due to the variance of free oxygen and water vapor in the atmosphere.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Maybe but why is it hen sometimes unrelated to true auroras and why is then that no "particle rain" was detected by the satellite?

[@jajwarehouse1]

@@LuisAldamiz At 5:30 it is stated Steve has only ever been seen at the same time as aurora, although it would be further south. The very fact that there is no particle rain from above supports the hypothesis of an electron avalanche traversing laterally from the aurora.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@jajwarehouse1 - I understood that that statement refers to an specific sample and not to all instances. I.e. tat in most cases Steve happens along with auroras but in some cases it does not. Unsure now how to intepret that but I also understood that there are Steves without auroras of any sort and that they are seasonal, while auroras are not.

[@jajwarehouse1]

@@LuisAldamiz I rewatched the video to be sure, and no Steve has been seen without the occurrence of aurora, but not all aurora have Steves, giving them their seasonal attributes, which I would surmise to be due to the varying amount of oxygen or water vapor at different times of the year. An increased amount of water vapor would inhibit the chain reaction needed to generate an electron avalanche.

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@jajwarehouse1 - OK, I'll take your word for that. I really can't dispute you but that's not the impression I got. Not that I'm any expert on auroras, much less on Steves, so you may well be all kinds of right.

[@jefierro]

Can you be my google assistant voice, please!

[@lucasthompson1650]

I hope Josh Homme of Queens Of The Stone Age knows about this, "Steve" is pretty much his favourite utilitarian name for things and people. (also, posting this from Edmonton, Alberta … go AAC!)

[@reinerwilhelms-tricarico344]

Great. This is the documentary about STEVE I’ve seen sogar. Q: Is it possible that this is a ring current induced by rapid changes in the geomagnetic field or interactions with the sun’s magnetic field?

[@TheSadButMadLad]

Steve is the ricochet of alien super weapons.

[@averyps]

STEVE: Obviously a harbinger of doom.

[@maytronix7201]

Hey Dr Smethurst... are you participating in any live lecture series in the U.S.?

[@dustinking2965]

So hot right now... That's like the temperature of a star, right? How did the satellite not melt?

[@X_Baron]

Are there any videos of steves in motion? It'd be easier to identify if you knew exactly what to look for.

[@DrBecky]

Couple of motion shots in this NASA vid: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYOrqHp6Ys6mb7c

[@probablynotmyname8521]

I once saw a coach steve although he being a gary at that point.

[@leightonjulye]

steve aurora like celestial phenomenon

[@Zakna]

Alberta represent!

[@SteveMHN]

Nothing wrong with the name Steve, I know someone with that name very well.

[@sent4dc]

Wouldn't it be funny if it turned out to be a contrail. Although, did I hear it right, what was the temperature inside that thing? It can take a plane down. How come FAA doesn't about it?

[@fredricknietzsche7316]

Wow !

[@Rangifulla]

Powerful Earth beetle @ 0:56