The stunning image was taken by photographer Krista Trinder and was featured as NASA’s Astronomical Image of the Day, which once confused experts at the agency.
In 2015, a mysterious purple light in the sky prevented NASA from finding an answer. This space agency named the strange light “Steve”. Although there is an ordinary name which is not very evocative, the reality of this light is extremely complex.
Recently, NASA continued to share a great photo of Steve and the Milky Way, taken on Childs Lake, Canada, in 2017.
“What’s causing these long streaks of light across the sky?” No one is sure. These are light purple ribbons that may look like ordinary Northern Lights, but in fact, they have some significant differences.
Steve’s unusually large length and coloration, when measured accurately, indicates that it may be related to sub-auroral ionic drift (SAID), also known as polarized jet.
Some of the current Steve’s would also come with Green Fence Structures, a series of celestial bars that can appear outside of the Main Aurora Oval without involving much of the glowing nitrogen.
NASA hopes research on Steve can help reveal how processes in Earth’s upper atmosphere can have noticeable effects on the lower parts of Earth’s atmosphere.
It should also give some insight into how the entire Earth works.
