The unusual light show was recorded by astronomer and citizen scientist Dr Ian Griffin in the skies over Brighton, Dunedin, during a geomagnetic storm on St Patrick’s Day (March 17) in 2015. The auroral activity in the south, the researchers said, was accompanied by a broad red arc above, which physicists call a stable auroral red arc (SAR). Over time, this evolved into a thin, white-purple arc known as “STEVE”—or Strong Heat Radiation Velocity Enhancement. The team explained that while both rainbows look like ordinary auroras, they are actually produced by a slightly different physical process.
Of his sightings, Dr Griffin said: ‘There was something strange going on overhead – which is unusual for New Zealand as the auroras are usually low in the sky.
“I got curious and pulled out a really wide-angle fisheye lens to start a timelapse.”
“Since this kind of transformation has never been recorded before, we arrived at some interesting measurements that cannot be explained by current scientific theories and models.”
The findings, the researchers said, may shed new light on the complex magnetic interactions that occur in the near-Earth space environment.
After the light display, Dr. Griffin posted his observations on YouTube, where in 2018 they caught the attention of auroral scientist Dr. Bea Gallardo-Lacourt of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
The recordings were then shared with Boston University space physicist Professor Carlos Martinis and his colleagues.
They analyzed the footage along with data collected from satellites and an all-sky camera located at Mount John Observatory – about 124 miles north of Dunedin
Dr Griffin said: “It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work alongside a team of researchers to unlock the secrets of these auroral displays.”
READ MORE: SpaceX sparks ‘rocket-powered’ aurora that turns sky RED
Dr Gallardo-Lacourt said: “Since the discovery of STEVE, the assistance and collaboration provided by citizen scientists has been critical to our research.
“Their dedication and passion to pursue the aurora borealis and related phenomena has provided us with an incredible array of data.
“I never imagined that my work would involve such a rich connection to this community and the beauty provided by their photographs.”
Professor Martinis added: “These observations highlight the benefits of bringing together two communities, citizen scientists and researchers, to help discover new connections in geospatial space.
“Without Ian’s photographs, this research would not have been possible.
“The results reveal the rapid evolution of some of the strongest plasma properties ever measured in Earth’s upper atmosphere.”
DON’T MISS: Electric vehicle: UK’s ‘amazing’ progress will save Brits £12bn [ANALYSIS]Octopus Energy launches millionaire scheme to save £3,775 [REPORT]Ukrainian hero drone pilot reveals all [INSIGHT]
Quantum physicist David Hutchinson, of the University of Otago in Dunedin, said: “Physicists like to smash atoms together and see what happens, but usually we have to build things like the hadron collider at CERN in Switzerland.
“In this case, nature has done all the hard work for us by creating the auroral manifestations in the atmosphere.
“Understanding the processes responsible for these optical phenomena is key to unraveling the fundamental science and how interactions between gases and plasmas at different altitudes dominate atmospheric chemistry.”
The full results of the study are published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Add Comment