铜港上空的STEVE

2021年05月05日

STEVE over Copper Harbor
Image Credit & Copyright: MaryBeth Kiczenski

Explanation: What creates STEVEs? Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements (STEVEs) have likely been seen since antiquity, but only in the past five years has it been realized that their colors and shapes make them different from auroras. Seen as single bright streaks of pink and purple, the origin of STEVEs remain an active topic of research. STEVEs may be related to subauroral ion drifts (SAIDs), a supersonic river of hot atmospheric ions. For reasons currently unknown, STEVEs are frequently accompanied by green “picket-fence” auroras. The featured STEVE image is a combination of foreground and background exposures taken consecutively in mid-March from Copper Harbor, Michigan, USA. This bright STEVE lasted several minutes, spanned from horizon to horizon, and appeared in between times of normal auroras.

Tomorrow’s picture: open space

铜港上空的STEVE
影像提供与版权: MaryBeth Kiczenski

说明: STEVEs是怎么产生的？STEVEs（增速导致的突发性热辐射）应是长久以来一直都存在的景观，不过直到最近这5年，人们才意识到它们的色泽和形状皆与极光有别。形似单根粉红及紫色混合光带的STEVEs，其成因至今仍然是科学研究的题材。STEVEs或许与副极光区离子流（SAIDs），一种超声速大气热离子流有所关联。而且因目前不明的原因，STEVEs经常有共伴的泛绿光栅状极光。这幅由前景及背景照片组合而成的主题影像，是在今年3月，摄于美国密西根州的铜港。这例横跨天际，发生在一般极光出没间隙里的明亮STEVE，持续了数分钟之久。

明日的图片: open space