NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (2024-10-28): STEVE: A Glowing River over France
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2410/SteveFrance_leroux_1080.jpg
Sometimes a river of hot gas flows over your head. In this case the river created a Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) that glowed bright red, white, and pink. Details of how STEVEs work remain a topic of research, but recent evidence holds that their glow results from a fast-moving river of hot ions flowing over a hundred kilometers up in the Earth's atmosphere: the ionosphere. The more expansive dull red glow might be related to the flowing STEVE, but alternatively might be a Stable Auroral Red (SAR) arc, a more general heat-related glow. The featured picture, taken earlier this month in Côte d'Opale, France, is a wide-angle digital composite made as the STEVE arc formed nearly overhead.  Although the apparition lasted only a few minutes, this was long enough for the quick-thinking astrophotographer to get in the picture -- can you find him?