Have you seen Steve? Look up and you might spot the sky phenomenon.

I live where the night sky is brilliant so I hope I can remember to be on the lookout for Steve.

Have you seen Steve? Look up and you might spot the sky phenomenon.

Let me introduce you to Steve. He’s a bit of a recluse, but really dazzles when he does show up. Perhaps most importantly, he’s actually not a person, but a stripe of purple light in the evening sky. And according to new research, it looks like he has a twin.

The name STEVE is actually an acronym for “strong thermal emission velocity enhancement,” a technical term used to describe this brief purple-pink splash across the sky. Although he might look like one, Steve isn’t an aurora either. He’s pink and purple and only appears briefly, unlike the better known aurora borealis, which usually comes in shades of red, blue, and green and goes on for hours.

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Interesting.