The Write-Down #13
Each week here at downboy, LLC, we like to take a moment to get to know a little more about our amazing team. One question. Three Answers. No judgment.
The Northern Lights. Aurora Borealis (or Australis, for all of our other-side-of-the-globe friends). An amazing atmospheric phenomenon. If you’ve never seen it, you’re going to be fine. But it is pretty cool. How it happens? That is not our quest today. Instead, let’s talk about STEVE. The Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement occurs…somehow. It’s different from, but adjacent to, the Borealis. For years, the University of Alberta has had cameras trained north, where the Northern Lights paint the sky, yet they were missing something. It wasn’t until a ragtag group of citizen scientist night owls (The Alberta Aurora Chasers)—armed the with the high quality photography of cell phones—began to document this other atmospheric wonder, that STEVE became a thing. So much so that NASA got involved. The result represents an amazing discovery built from the ground up.
What can we learn from this beautiful story?
“I want to go there.”
McKenna Shoberg, Retinal Photographer
“Oh great! Another talented and dedicated group of people not getting the credit they deserve for the essential work of discovery they do out of love. Or insomnia. Sounds fun.”
Ed Walters, Occupant, Cubicle 17
“I’ll get these alerts on my phone about the Northern Lights visible tonight in these 10 states, so I go out walking around looking up at the sky. Nothing. Light pollution is a real problem, and it’s on my list. Pretty far down, but it’s there.”
Megan Oeth, Human Resources
