Explanation: An intense band of zodiacal light is captured in this serene mountain and night skyscape from April 7. The panoramic view was recorded after three hours of hiking from a vantage looking west after sunset across the Pyrenees in southern France. At 2838 meters altitude, Mont Valier is the tallest peak near center. In the sky above, the familiar stars of Orion and the northern winter Milky Way are approaching the rugged western horizon. At the shoulder of Orion, Betelgeuse is one of three bright yellowish celestial beacons. It forms a triangle with fellow red giant star Aldebaran located below Betelgeuse and to the right, and the red planet Mars. Mars shines just under the band of the Milky Way, still immersed in the bright zodiacal light.
I think it is possible to see Mars as a rocketship in this image, shooting past the Pleiades and into the Milky Way above, leaving a wake of light behind it. Indeed that is almost what has happened. Mars did pass very close to the Pleiades earlier this year, but now it has "shot past" this most famous of clusters. Of course Mars is not about to leave the Solar system and disappear into outer space like another 'Oumuamua.
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
But the impression that Mars is leaving a wake of (reflected) light behind it may be more than an impression. According to a video by Anton Petrov, Mas may be the chief source of the band of dust particles orbiting the Sun and raising a wedge of light into spring and fall night skies on the Earth.
Ann
Re: APOD: Zodiacal Night (2021 Apr 10)
Posted: Sat Apr 10, 2021 12:04 pm
by orin stepanek
Oh I almost missed the guy Kneeling with the light!
Ann, I add my thanks to your annotations. This is a most familiar area of the sky for me as it is usually in the central sky when I take my early morning winter walks. I recognize the most famous stars, but I still get lost among the nebula.
Zodiacal Night
