Time lapse movie of the aurora borealis (better known as the Northern Lights) on September 24th in British Columbia, Canada.
Note from Arlingtoncards.com: After you view the beauty of the northern lights a few times, check out the the constellations rising from left to right. In the sky these constellations would be rising from East to West, but since the view is probably a north view, these constellations are rotating counterclockwise about the North Star or Polaris.
A little before halfway through the time elapse, the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) comes into view… stage left and crosses toward the right of the video. At about three-quarters time elapse, the Big Dipper is in the center of the video. About one-quarter elapsed time you can see Auriga rising in the lower right corner.
You can always find helpful links about the night sky, such as Auroral Activity at Arlingtoncards.com/sky
The northern lights are sometimes visible in the Arlington Heights area. When they are present, it is much easier to see the Northern Lights in more northern lattitudes and in areas with less artificial light.
Here is a flashback to May 2005 with a picture looking northwest toward an Arlington Heights sky at about 3 a.m.
Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) display over the northeast sky in Arlington Heights as it looked at about 0300-0400 CDT on May 15 2005.
Shortly after the picture (above) was taken, the Space Environment Center was publishing this graphic (below) of Auroral Activity for the northern hemisphere.
Pattern for Auroral activity at 4:32 AM CDT from the NOAA Space Environment Center.
You can check for Auroral Activity on your own at the NOAA Space Environment Center website. Loof for the Space Weather Now link … and then look for Auroral Activity.