zodiacal light

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Related to Zodiacal band: gegenschein

zodiacal light

A faint hazy cone of light, often visible within the zodiacal band in the west just after sunset or in the east just before sunrise, apparently caused by the reflection of sunlight from meteoric particles in the plane of the ecliptic.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

zodiacal light

(Physical Geography) a very faint cone of light in the sky, visible in the east just before sunrise and in the west just after sunset. It is probably due to the reflection of sunlight from cosmic dust in the plane of the ecliptic

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

zodi′acal light′

a luminous tract in the sky, seen in the west after sunset or in the east before sunrise.

[1725–35]

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Noun

zodiacal light - a luminous tract in the sky; a reflection of sunlight from cosmic dust in the plane of the ecliptic; visible just before sunrise and just after sunset

reflexion, reflection - the phenomenon of a propagating wave (light or sound) being thrown back from a surface

Translations

luce zodiacale

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References in periodicals archive ?

This beginning is rather unexpected given that Manilius' probable model for the description, the first half of Aratus' Phaenomena (1-558), does not single out the zodiacal band among other constellations (Volk 2009, 35).

The concept of the Sun as [phrase omitted] in the Stoa and in Manilius' Astronomica

Two others use cross-staffs to measure angular separations in Libra and Virgo on the actual zodiacal band overhead.

Celestial frontispieces of the golden age: astronomy-themed art and allegory reached an early peak as illustrators sought to outdo one another

He assigns a number to the quality of sky visible--1 being an excellent dark sky with Zodiacal Band and Airglow apparent, magnitude 7-8 visible with the naked eye and the Milky Way casting shadows.

Observing through the light

The gegenschein and zodiacal band are occasionally visible from Alan Whitman's backyard observatory in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley.

Exploring messier 31: backyard scopes can reveal dozens of star clusters in the Andromeda Galaxy

Just as the ecliptic (the Sun's apparent path through the constellations) is the midline of the zodiacal band, where the Moon and planets travel, so the galactic equator is the midline of the band of Milky Way glow that we see in the sky.

Walking the galactic line: most of our galaxy's splendors are strung out along its equator. (Northern Hemisphere's Sky)

Regulus is located very near the ecliptic--the midline of the zodiacal band of constellations in which the Sun, Moon, and planets are always found.