Above photo by Jeff Dai in Tibet. See more photos by Jeff Dai.
The autumn equinox came on September 22 for us in the Northern Hemisphere, which means that these autumn mornings present a good time of year to see the zodiacal light, also known as the false dawn. With the moon out of the morning sky for the next two weeks, this is your chance to catch the zodiacal light in the east before dawn’s first light. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, where the spring equinox happened a few weeks ago, the zodiacal light appears in your western sky, beginning about an hour after the sun goes down.
The slender waning crescent moon shouldn’t really intrude on the zodiacal light tomorrow, on October 18, 2017. Click here to find out when astronomical twilight begins and the moon rises in your sky, remembering to check the astronomical twilight and moonrise and moonset boxes.
This light can be noticeable and easy to see from latitudes relatively close to Earth’s equator, for example, like those in the southern U.S. Earthsky’s Deborah Byrd has seen it many times from the latitude of southern Texas, sometimes while driving a lonely highway far from city lights, in the hour or so before true dawn begins to light the sky. In that case, the zodiacal light can resemble the lights of a city or town just over the horizon. Meanwhile, skywatchers in the northern U.S. or Canada sometimes say, wistfully, that they’ve never seen it, although in recent years we’ve seen many photographs of the zodiacal light taken from those northerly latitudes.
Here’s the zodiacal light as captured on film in Canada. This wonderful capture is from Robert Ede in Invermere, British Columbia.
Zodiacal light seen from Paranal Observatory in Chile. From latitudes closer to the equator, the zodiacal light appears brighter and easier to see. Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons
You need a dark sky location to see the zodiacal light, someplace where city lights aren’t obscuring the natural lights in the sky. The zodiacal light is a pyramid-shaped glow in the east before dawn (or after twilight ends in the evening, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere now). It’s even “milkier” in appearance than the starlit trail of the summer Milky Way. It’s most visible before dawn at this time of year because, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – stands nearly straight up with respect to the eastern horizon before dawn now. As seen from the Southern Hemisphere, the same is true of the western horizon after true darkness falls.
The zodiacal light can be seen for up to an hour or so before true dawn begins to break. Once again, look for it about 120 to 80 minutes before sunrise. Unlike true dawn, though, there’s no rosy color to the zodiacal light. The reddish skies at dawn and dusk are caused by Earth’s atmosphere, and the zodiacal light originates far outside our atmosphere. When you see the zodiacal light, you are looking edgewise into our own solar system. The zodiacal light is actually sunlight reflecting off dust particles that move in the same plane as Earth and the other planets orbiting our sun.
Bottom line: No matter where you are on Earth, your local autumn is the best time to see the zodiacal light before dawn. Spring is the best time to see it in the evening.
An almanac can help you find the clock time for sunrise in your sky
Everything you need to know: zodiacal light or false dawn
Donate: Your support means the world to us
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1G6ayWD
Above photo by Jeff Dai in Tibet. See more photos by Jeff Dai.
The autumn equinox came on September 22 for us in the Northern Hemisphere, which means that these autumn mornings present a good time of year to see the zodiacal light, also known as the false dawn. With the moon out of the morning sky for the next two weeks, this is your chance to catch the zodiacal light in the east before dawn’s first light. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, where the spring equinox happened a few weeks ago, the zodiacal light appears in your western sky, beginning about an hour after the sun goes down.
The slender waning crescent moon shouldn’t really intrude on the zodiacal light tomorrow, on October 18, 2017. Click here to find out when astronomical twilight begins and the moon rises in your sky, remembering to check the astronomical twilight and moonrise and moonset boxes.
This light can be noticeable and easy to see from latitudes relatively close to Earth’s equator, for example, like those in the southern U.S. Earthsky’s Deborah Byrd has seen it many times from the latitude of southern Texas, sometimes while driving a lonely highway far from city lights, in the hour or so before true dawn begins to light the sky. In that case, the zodiacal light can resemble the lights of a city or town just over the horizon. Meanwhile, skywatchers in the northern U.S. or Canada sometimes say, wistfully, that they’ve never seen it, although in recent years we’ve seen many photographs of the zodiacal light taken from those northerly latitudes.
Here’s the zodiacal light as captured on film in Canada. This wonderful capture is from Robert Ede in Invermere, British Columbia.
Zodiacal light seen from Paranal Observatory in Chile. From latitudes closer to the equator, the zodiacal light appears brighter and easier to see. Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons
You need a dark sky location to see the zodiacal light, someplace where city lights aren’t obscuring the natural lights in the sky. The zodiacal light is a pyramid-shaped glow in the east before dawn (or after twilight ends in the evening, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere now). It’s even “milkier” in appearance than the starlit trail of the summer Milky Way. It’s most visible before dawn at this time of year because, as seen from the Northern Hemisphere, the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – stands nearly straight up with respect to the eastern horizon before dawn now. As seen from the Southern Hemisphere, the same is true of the western horizon after true darkness falls.
The zodiacal light can be seen for up to an hour or so before true dawn begins to break. Once again, look for it about 120 to 80 minutes before sunrise. Unlike true dawn, though, there’s no rosy color to the zodiacal light. The reddish skies at dawn and dusk are caused by Earth’s atmosphere, and the zodiacal light originates far outside our atmosphere. When you see the zodiacal light, you are looking edgewise into our own solar system. The zodiacal light is actually sunlight reflecting off dust particles that move in the same plane as Earth and the other planets orbiting our sun.
Bottom line: No matter where you are on Earth, your local autumn is the best time to see the zodiacal light before dawn. Spring is the best time to see it in the evening.
An almanac can help you find the clock time for sunrise in your sky
Everything you need to know: zodiacal light or false dawn
Donate: Your support means the world to us
from EarthSky http://ift.tt/1G6ayWD
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