Surrounded by dramatic peaks on a narrow road etched into the side of the mountains you drop into forested area that continues into a string of foothills. It's clear and you wish you were on your bike this time around. The trees thin out and suddenly it's upon you. You're at the summit of the last foothill and the expanse of the prairie opens up ahead. Off in the distance is a short mountain range, but mostly it's prairie and you need to catch your breath.
Oceans and mountains have their appeal, but so does the prairie. I suspect Montana Jeri and Alberta Jheri know this too. More than a few people from the area are taken by the outdoors. You find a number of artists, photographers, as well as people who are taken to learn about their surroundings. I feel hard for the sky and have yet to recover.
The area is positioned such that auroras aren't uncommon during solar maximums. Alberta and Saskatchewan have groups of serious amateur aurora watchers. About ten years ago they realized something was different. Something more frequent than garden variety auroras with a different color (they'd say colour) and shape. Early spectrographic measurements revealed it was a thermal emission rather than the distinct colors of excited atoms dropping to lower energy levels.
Serious work using satellites and the rich ground-based observations of the Canadian amateurs began around 2016. It was real and not an aurora. It needed a name. One based on a children's movie turned out to be perfect.
The backronym Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement nicely suggests STEVE.
Much more is known now and the name remains. The past week has been some beautiful displays along the Canadian Rockies. I say them as a teenager and then again in my 30s, but didn't realize they weren't auroras. Cheers to those curious enough to ask the questions.
Comments