This is a 360° panorama extending up to the zenith capturing a rare SAR (Stable Auroral Red) arc across the Arizona sky in the pre-dawn hours of October 11, 2024. The SAR arc was generated in the high atmosphere as part of the global geomagnetic storm of October 10/11, 2024 with a Kp8 rating that night.

This is rare in that from this latitude of 32° N in southern Arizona it is unusual to get any activity from an aurora storm. But this was a very active night with auroras widely seen around the world.

While a SAR arc is not aurora as such, it is created by highly energized "ring currents" in the magnetosphere generated during an auroral storm, creating a horizontal band of glowing oxyen that is fairly featureless and long-lasting. It was present early in the evening and was still there at 4 am this morning.

North is left of centre, so the SAR arc is across the northern sky. West is at left, east at right, and south to the far right.

Also in the panorama:
- At far left to the west is a subtle vertical band of light, the Zodiacal band, with a bright region called the Gegenschein, caused by sunlight reflecting off interplanetary dust particles in the outer solar system.
- The Milky Way, from Cassiopeia and Perseus at left, passing high overhead at top, and descending down past Orion and Canis Major at right in the south.
- At right near the SAR arc's intersection with the horizon is an area of green, which is likely airglow, not aurora, caused by chemical fluorescence in the upper atmosphere.
- At right, also near the SAR arc, and rising vertically, is the Zodiacal Light, in this direction to the east and sunrise point, created by dust particles in the inner solar system.

The SAR arc looks yellow in that direction, possibly from its red light blending with the green airglow, or there can be yellow airglow from sodium atoms glowing. The yellow along the horizon could be sodium airglow or simply dust in the air reflecting distant city lights.

The bright ob