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Central Oregon

Another solar explosion brings beautiful, rare aurora scenes southward across the High Desert

Jim Hammond took this time-lapse aurora video from Sisters over a span of nearly 2 hours Sunday night: 'This video shows the dynamic nature of the aurora and is made from about 600 separate images. Even when the visible activity had stopped in the last part of the video, there was still much activity that the camera captured.'
Aurora Prineville Lindy Sharp 4-23-1
Lindy Sharp
A spectacular aurora sky show was photographed in Prineville Sunday night
Aurora Prineville Lindy Sharp 4-23-2
Lindy Sharp
It might take a long camera exposure to see the southern show of the North Lights this brightly, but many photographers found it worth doing Sunday night, as in this Prineville view
Aurora Bend Ben Erard 4-23
Ben Erard
Mountain View High School sophomore Ben Erard captured this view in Bend of the northern lights display Sunday night
Aurora Travis Albrecht 4-23
Travis Albrecht
The aurora was a bit harder to see in brighter-lit areas, but it was there
Aurora Pilot Butte meteor Gary Calicott 4-23
Gary Calicott
'Northern Lights over Pilot Butte, with a meteor thrown in for fun,' says Gary Calicott
Aurora Old Mill Robert Bush 4-23
Robert Bush
Sunday night's aurora could be seen from Bend's Old Mill Bridge
Aurora Redmond Chris Waugh 4-23
Chris Waugh
A view of the northern lights from Redmond
Aurora Blakley Weber 4-23
Blakley Weber
Aurora between Sisters and Bend Elizabeth Gurry 4-23
Elizabeth Gurry
Northern lights caught on iPhone Sunday night between Sisters and Bend
Aurora Rimrock Springs Brent Bunch 4-23-1
Brent Bunch
Frequent contributor Brent Bunch shot this series of aurora photos Sunday night from the Rimrock Springs Wildlife Area between Prineville and Madras. 'Spectacular," he says
Aurora Rimrock Springs Brent Bunch 4-23-2
Brent Bunch
Frequent contributor Brent Bunch shot this series of aurora photos Sunday night from the Rimrock Springs Wildlife Area between Prineville and Madras. 'Spectacular," he says
Aurora Rimrock Springs Brent Bunch 4-23-3
Brent Bunch
Frequent contributor Brent Bunch shot this series of aurora photos Sunday night from the Rimrock Springs Wildlife Area between Prineville and Madras. 'Spectacular," he says
By
April 24, 2023 2:45 PM
Published 12:18 AM

(Update: Adding more photos, time-lapse video)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A "coronal mass ejection" that exploded from the Sun in recent days hit Earth's magnetic field earlier than expected on Sunday, sparking a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm -- and a dazzling view of colorful auroras visible over a wide area of the globe, much farther south than typically seen -- including the High Desert.

The Central Oregon sky show came exactly a month after another such rare display of auroras brought us numerous spectacular photos at NewsChannel 21.

Spaceweather.com said that this time, the auroras included sightings of the northern lights as far south as France, and so bright they could be seen in brightly lit major cities such as Berlin. Bright red auroras also were being reported from China.

Enjoy these great sights - and please feel free to share yours with us from the Share tab at KTVZ.COM!

Article Topic Follows: Central Oregon

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Barney Lerten

Barney is the digital content director for NewsChannel 21. Learn more about Barney here.

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