Steve – or to give it its full name, Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement – is unpredictable and only lasts for a short amount of time.
Little is known about its formation and why it can sometimes appear during an aurora display.
While auroras happen in an oval shape, Steve appears as a ribbon and lasts for 20 minutes to an hour before disappearing.
While Steve is only spotted in the presence of an aurora, it is not a normal aurora as scientists suggests it comprises of a fast-moving stream of extremely hot particles called a sub-auroral ion drift, or SAID.
As Steve is unpredictable and only lasts for a short time, recording occurrences from the ground is rare.
The last sightings of Steve in the UK were back in November 2023.
While there have been photographs of Steve for decades, it only got the name Steve in 2016, following a US citizen science project funded by Nasa and the National Science Foundation.
