Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:Also known as the false dawn, a luminous band of zodiacal light is captured in this dark night skyscape.
The serene view was recorded just before the beginning of astronomicaltwilightduring September’s star party at the remote Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, Ladakh, India, planet Earth.
At about 4,500 meters altitude, the dark sky reservepresents a havenfor hardy stargazing and astrophotography enthusiasts.
While meteors streak through the night, bright planet Jupiter appears immersed in the faint zodiacal glow near the eastern horizon.
Follow the zodiacal bandtoward the zenith to find open star cluster M44 and a yellowish tinged planet Mars near the center of the frame.
In fact, serendipitousdetections of interplanetary dust by NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggest Mars itself is the source of dust that back scatters sunlight and createszodiacal light in planet Earth’s night.
APOD’s main NASA site ismoving:Fromapod.nasa.govtoscience.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture:only sunny days