Last week, an undetected solar storm sent a wave of charged particles hurtling toward Earth. On the night of May 31st, those particles crashed into our planet’s magnetic field and rattled the upper atmosphere, igniting the sky in an unanticipated burst of purple, pink and green.
Astrophotographer Brad Goldpaint was lucky enough to be shooting at Oregon’s Crater Lake when the surprise aurorae unfurled across the sky.
He was staring upward towards a clear night sky when suddenly, without much warning, an unmistakable faint glow of the aurora borealis began erupting in front of him.
He immediately recognized his opportunity, packed up his equipment and drove to a northward-facing location to capture the display in full force.
Featured at the top of this post is a time-lapse of the display by Goldpaint. The last image in the shot shows the route of the International Space Station as it flew overhead at 2:35 am.
