Aurora and a strange red arc?

[Skipper Billy]

Timelapse of last night's Aurora before the clouds rolled in and spoiled the party!

I have never seen the red arc just above the Zenith before - any suggestions ??? (North is at the bottom of the image)

Edited March 4 by Skipper Billy

[JeremyS]

Looks like a SAR (Stable Auroral Red) Arc

[davew]

9 hours ago, Skipper Billy said:

I have never seen the red arc just above the Zenith before

I don't think I've seen it before either ! Thanks to you and Jeremy I'm now slightly better informed

Fabtastic capture and thanks,

Dave.

Edited March 4 by davew
Wrong name quoted !! Trying to look at too many threads :)

[Ratlet]

Actual Astronomy Podcast did a recent episode on aurora.  I think one of the presenters mentioned something about seeing an arc.  Don't think his was red, but that wouldn't be too surprising as the camera will be more sensitive than the eye to red.

[Craney]

There is a thing called  STEVE   ( (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement)  which produces an arc like phenomena in the sky.

Looks similar, although I don't think STEVE is technically classed as an Aurora.

This is a picture of STEVE posted on a BBC  weather website from a different event.

[JeremyS]

STEVE and SAR are part of SAID (sub auroral ion drift)

[Skipper Billy]

Thank you all - I have learnt something !!

I have seen and imaged STEVE's before but this was a new one for me.

Thanks again.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

On 04/03/2024 at 10:57, JeremyS said:

Looks like a SAR (Stable Auroral Red) Arc

Thanks. I imaged it myself last week and was wondering what it was. According to this link the name is misleading and it's not really an aurora:

https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2021/11/22/3308/

"Auroras appear when charged particles rain down from space, hitting the atmosphere and causing it to glow like the picture tube of an old color TV.  SARs form differently. They are a sign of heat energy leaking into the upper atmosphere from Earth’s ring current system."