The northern lights are rarely seen as far south as the southern United States. But occasionally, at times of extreme solar activity, alert skywatchers far from city lights can see the sky bathed in a reddish glow. In an especially intense display, other colors and structure such as vertical rays can be seen. Such was the night of November 11, 2025, when I took these photographs from a location outside of Prescott, Arizona, at a latitude of 34.6 degrees North.

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9:26 p.m. MST. The auroral display begins as a faint general glow in the north.
9:31 p.m. MST. Vertical rays appear within the glow.
9:35 p.m. MST. The glow and vertical rays intensify.
9:40 p.m. MST. The rays grow more intense and detailed.
9:41 p.m. MST. A wide-angle photo shows the aurora stretching across the entire northern sky.
9:44 p.m. MST. Maximum intensity.
9:48 p.m. MST. The rays constantly shifted and re-formed as I watched.
9:50 p.m. MST. The color and detail fade; the aurora returns to an overall glow as the display comes to an end.

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All photos taken using iPhone 15 Pro Max on fixed tripod.

I was alerted to this auroral display by the "My Aurora Forecast & Alerts" app on my iPhone, and a text from my friend Jim Deck in Colorado.