Big Sky Country had a big night on Friday. The aurora borealis made an impressive appearance, but was not alone. A very strange white plume bisected the sky, appearing for a few minutes, long enough for many skywatchers across Montana to see.
Some amateur space watchers thought it might be a STEVE. If you have not been introduced yet, STEVE stands for "strong thermal emission velocity enhancement" and is an aurora-like glow that often accompanies the northern lights.
STEVE was only discovered between 2015 and 2016 by citizen scientists in Canada chasing the aurora. Like the aurora, STEVE is a glowing atmospheric phenomenon and occurs simultaneously with the northern lights. While the aurora is created by charged particles that glow, STEVE is created by heated gas that lights up in a white-ish, slightly purple line oriented on an east-west axis.
But alas, the plume on Friday night was not a STEVE. It is now known that the line was related to a rocket launch from China. Chinese launch startup "LandSpace" sent a new rocket to space carrying six satellites. The white streak may have been a de-orbit burn or a circularization burn for the deployment of the satellites.
New technology that is powered by liquid oxygen and liquid methane likely left a mark similar to a STEVE. Other companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX will also be using similar rockets, so more fake STEVEs could be showing up.
