# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/BgXFSYkAxDE
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11735344-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/a56b28fd76.jpg
- **Posted:** 2018-03-15T22:29:35.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Have you seen STEVE? Glowing in purple & green colors, a new celestial phenomenon, known as STEVE, is caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with Earth's magnetic field.

The display was initially discovered by a group of citizen scientists who took pictures of the unusual lights and playfully named them "Steve." Scientists have since learned more about the purples and greens, and have given it a more accurate name: Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, which can still can be shortened to STEVE.

A citizen science project called Aurorasaurus, funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation (nsfgov), wants your help gathering photos so they can learn more about this mysterious phenomenon. Aurorasaurus tracks appearances of auroras — and now STEVE — around the world through users submitting reports and photographs directly on its mobile app and on aurorasaurus.org.

Image Credit: NASA/Krista Trinder

#auroras #nasa #space #sky #nightsky #celestial #sightings #steve #newzealand #canada #citizencientists #earth #glow #purple #picoftheday #astronomy #science

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 1,132,774
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- **Comments:** 9,043

## Tags

citizencientists, astronomy, steve, sightings, earth, nasa, auroras, picoftheday, space, purple, celestial, nightsky, newzealand, canada, sky, science, glow

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