Scientists have confirmed that the rare light show known as Steve is a visual manifestation of something called subauroral ion drift, or SAID. The phenomenon looks like an aurora, but is something completely different, and is made up of charged particles that glow when they interact with Earth’s upper atmosphere. Steve appears at lower latitudes and appears as a mauve streak of light accompanied by green bands, often called fences.
Despite being initially misidentified as a proton arc, the phenomenon was later given the name Steve by a group of citizen scientists in Canada who met in a small pub. The sun’s most active period has increased the number of dazzling natural phenomena in the night sky, leading to new reports of people seeing a Steve in areas where they do not usually appear.
While Steve is easiest to spot through the lens of a camera, the Earth’s increasing solar activity means there is a greater chance at witnessing this rare light show, especially near the spring and autumn equinoxes. Even a phone camera can capture the vibrant colors of a Steve, and photographers should participate in online communities dedicated to capturing auroras and other celestial phenomena.