Active aurora band - 23.3.2023 at 20.40 Vaasa Observation number 113681

Bands are usually narrower, more twisty at the bottom, brighter, and more active than arches. Bands usually develop from arches.

Bands can form J and U shapes, sometimes even full spirals. The corona can also arise from bands. Bands are a fairly common form of aurora.

Aurora band. Photo by Merja Ruotsalainen.

Aurora band. Photo by Matias Takala.

Aurora band. Photo by Lea Rahtu-Korpela.

Aurora bands. Photo by Lauri Koivuluoma.

Aurora band. Photo by Matias Takala.

The raysare parallel to the lines of force of the magnetic field, i.e. quite vertical, usually less than one degree thick light streaks. The rays can occur alone or in connection with other shapes, mainly with arcs and bands. Short rays are usually brightest at the bottom but dim quickly. The longest rays, even extending almost from the horizon to the zenith, are usually uniformly bright and quite calm, and unlike the shorter rays, most often occur in groups of a few rays or alone. Rays, like bands, are a very typical form of aurora.

Artificial light pillars, which are a halo phenomenon visible in ice mist, can sometimes be very similar to the rays of aurora. Confusion is possible especially when the lamps that cause the artificial light pillars are far away and not visible behind buildings or the forest. The nature of the phenomenon is clear at least from the photographs.

Rays. Picture of Tom Eklund.

Rays. Photo by Mika Puurula.

Two beams rise from the aurora veil. Photo by Anssi Mäntylä.

Two radial bands. Show Jani Lauanne.

Radial band and veil. Photo by Jussi Alanenpää.

Two rays. Photo by Aki Taavitsainen.

It may be possible to confuse such rays with artificial light columns. Compare the image below. Picture of Tom Eklund.

There is no aurora in this image, but all the light poles - including the wide and diffuse bar seen at the top left - are artificial light pillars born of ice mist. Photo by Sami Jumppanen.

Aurora and artificial light pillars. All the radial shapes in the picture above are probably artificial light pillars that coincide appropriately with the aurora band. In the image below, the aurora band has shifted and does not overlap with the pillars produced by the orange bulbs. There is no orange in auroras. Photo by Katariina Roiha

The Stable Auroral Red arcs (SAR arcs)  are usually clearly distanced to the south from the aurora oval and is a very opaque and normally red ribbon. In most cases SAR arcs are only visible in the photo or on the liveview screen of the SLR camera. Using a camera with very high sensitivity is the best method for capturing these faint arcs. The arch usually settles between east and west.

A stable red arc of aurora is a rare phenomenon. In some rare occasions, several SAR arcs may be simultaneously visible.

The first SAR arcs of the Skywarden were observed on nights between November 3-4. and 4-5. days in 2015 in the latitudes of central Finland.   

SAR arc photographed by Lasse Nurminen 2018. Observation of the Skywarden 79113.

STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is an aurora-like phenomenon that can be observed in middle latitudes. STEVE does not belong to traditional auroras as a phenomenon, but may appear at the same time with them.

STEVE looks like a narrow, white or mauve arc that is clearly separate from the rest of the aurora oval in the pole-ward side of the sky. In Northern Europe, STEVE can sometimes be seen quite far from the oval and be visible across the southern half of the sky.

A mauve STEVE with a clear gap to the oval. Image: Keijo Lehtimäki

It forms a long and narrow east-west aligned dim line that goes across the night sky. The length of the arc can be over 2 000 km and it is located at altitudes of 110-300 kilometers.

The best time for observing STEVE is when the active aurora of a substrom have subsided.

The arc is white, grey or light purple in color, but the appearance of the arc may vary slightly. In more colorful versions, the bottom edge of the arc shows while/grey color, whereas the upper part has more purple shade. These colorful versions are called Double-Layer STEVE.

Double-Layer STEVE. Image: Eero Karvinen

STEVE's appearance can resemble single, detached rays or there can be rays within the arc itself.

A ray-like STEVE. Photo by: Riku Talvio

Quite often purple rays within the aurora oval itself get mistakenly identified as STEVE. While within the aurora oval the purple rays tend to disappear relatively fast, STEVE-events can last from ten minutes to hours.

STEVE very rarely shows green color, whereas lower edges oval's traveling rays tend to be clearly green. However, occasionally there may also be a green, "toothed" band called ”picket fence” below and aligned with the STEVE arc.

STEVE with picket fence. Image: Sirpa Pursiainen

SAR arcs are a different phenomenon happening in the same region that sometimes gets mixed up with STEVE. SAR-arcs, however, are more diffuse, dimmer or fainter, purely red, and lasts longer than STEVE, even days.

This rare image shows a red SAR-arc with a white STEVE arc. There is an area without aurora light around STEVE. Image: Atacan Ergin

When photographing a suspected STEVE, it is important to try capturing both the arc form and the arc's location in relation to the rest of the oval.

In some cases, fine westward-moving structures can be observed within the arc. These can be captured by taking videos of the event or capturing short-exposure animations.

Green, seen with the naked eye, is one the most common colors of the aurora. The green color is derived from atomic oxygen.

Green auroras. Lea Rahtu-Korpela.

Green auroras. Photo by Juha Ojanperä.

Completely dark red aurora is a very rare and strikingly handsome revelation. This phenomenon is also due to the discharge of an excitation state of an atomic oxygen.

Throughout red aurora. Photo by Tobias Billings.