Airglow with Aurora and Big Dipper

Heavy airglow and faint aurora borealis with the big dipper in the sky.

On planet earth you see fluorescence in water and lichens.

Airglow is a faint emission of light by a planetary atmosphere. In the case of Earth’s atmosphere, this optical phenomenon causes the night sky never to be completely dark, even after the effects of starlight and diffused sunlight from the far side are removed. This phenomenon originates with self-illuminated gases and has no relationship with Earth’s magnetism or sunspot activity, causing aurorae.

The Big Dipper is an asterism consisting of seven bright stars of the constellation Ursa Major six of them are of second magnitude and one, Megrez, of third magnitude. Four define a “bowl” or “body” and three define a “handle” or “head”. It is recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures. The North Star (Polaris), the current northern pole star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper (Little Bear), can be located by extending an imaginary line through the front two stars of the asterism, Merak and Dubhe. This makes it useful in celestial navigation.