Faint lights of Earth in the dark hemisphere. This unique view of Earth was obtained in 12 minutes beginning at 0222 UT on 16 February 1982 as the NASA/GSFC spacecraft Dynamics Explorer 1 traversed the umbral shadow cone of Earth at altitudes 3.00 - 3.17 earth radii. The active aurora borealis is observed over the polar regions and rises above the limb at local evening and morning. Equatorial airglow is particularly intense in the late evening hours as the upper atmosphere first enters shadow. Symmetrically located north and south of the magnetic equator, these emissions decrease in intensity as the atmosphere and ionosphere progress across the dark hemisphere. The airglow bands are seen to rise above the limb at local evening. Resonant scattering of solar Lyman-alpha radiation by atomic hydrogen in the Earth's extended atmosphere - the exosphere - creates the diffuse glow around Earth. Earth's limb and coastal outlines are overlaid on the image. The dark band encircling Earth above the limb is due to atmospheric absorption of solar ultraviolet radiation at low altitudes. Because the spacecraft is located on the morning side near local midnight, dayglow in the sunlit hemisphere is observed to the right of the dark absorption band at the morning limb. The sensitivity passband of The University of Iowa's ultraviolet wavelength auroral imaging photometer extends from 118 to 165 nm for this image.