¿ Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2020 November 17 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A Glowing STEVE and the Milky Way Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]Krista Trinder Explanation: What's creating these long glowing streaks in the sky? No one is sure. Known as [5]Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs), these luminous light-purple sky ribbons may resemble [6]regular auroras, but recent research reveals significant differences. A [7]STEVE's great length and unusual colors, when measured precisely, indicate that it may be related to a [8]subauroral ion drift (SAID), a supersonic river of hot atmospheric [9]ions thought previously to be [10]invisible. Some [11]STEVEs are [12]now also thought to be accompanied by [13]green picket fence structures, a series of [14]sky slats that can appear outside of the main [15]auroral oval that [16]does not involve much glowing [17]nitrogen. The [18]featured wide-angle composite [19]image shows a STEVE in a dark sky above [20]Childs Lake, [21]Manitoba, [22]Canada in 2017, crossing in front of the central band of our [23]Milky Way Galaxy. Tomorrow's picture: doubled stars __________________________________________________________________ [24]< | [25]Archive | [26]Submissions | [27]Index | [28]Search | [29]Calendar | [30]RSS | [31]Education | [32]About APOD | [33]Discuss | [34]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell ([38]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [39]Specific rights apply. [40]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC & [44]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2011/SteveMilkyWay_NasaTrinder_6144.jpg 3. https://www.nasa.gov/ 4. https://www.facebook.com/KristaNaturePhotos 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_(atmospheric_phenomenon) 6. https://apod.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?tquery=aurora 7. https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-aurora-named-steve 8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subauroral_ion_drift 9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion 10. https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/can-you-find-cat-camouflage-1.jpg 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171014.html 12. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/citizen-scientists-help-discover-a-new-feature-of-steve/ 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080101.html 14. https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Swarm/Steve_over_the_picket_fence 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap970402.html 16. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/steve-light-sky-glow-atmosphere-different-typical-aurora 17. https://youtu.be/K5EOZenSSB8 18. https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/26938621338/ 19. https://www.facebook.com/KristaNaturePhotos/posts/917432785303323 20. https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/pubs/parks-protected-spaces/maps/campground_maps/childs_lake_campgrd.pdf 21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manitoba 22. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada 23. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/galaxy.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201116.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 33. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201117 34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201118.html 35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 44. http://www.mtu.edu/