[BAA Comets] comet or aurora?

[denis buczynski]

Naked eye comet or aurora?
The view of a naked eye comet with long tail projecting up from the horizon is a special view, one not experienced too many times during a lifetime and unforgettable to most. However to obtain a similar view of an astronomical phenomena we may not have to wait lifetime. The recent discovery (by amateurs) of a form of the Aurora (acronym STEVE) can have the same scale and diffuse appearance that long tail comets can have. The sightings of these auroral forms is becoming more common. The attached pictures show these simliar appearances. The first picture is a combinbation of two images one of STEVE taken by Gordon Mackie in Caithness Scotland last week and the other the view of C/2011 W3 Lovejoy at is post perihelion best taken from Australia. Make you own judgment about the similarity of appearances. More information about STEVE can be obtained at these links:
https://www.nasa.gov/…/mystery-of-purple-lights-in-sky-solv…
http://advances.sciencemag.org/…/adva…/4/3/eaaq0030.full.pdf
Denis Buczynski BAA Comet Section

  
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