The zodiacal light seen from Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii.
The zodiacal light seen from Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. It is caused by scattering of sunlight from interplanetary dust. The dust comes from asteroid collisions and from comets. The dust is concentrated in the plane of the ecliptic, the plane in which the planets orbit the Sun. The zodiacal light can only be seen from locations with little or no light pollution, and is most easily seen after evening twilight and before morning twilight. The nearby galaxy M31 is seen on the right, and the fainter galaxy M33 is also visible. The distant glow from Honolulu is seen near the horizon on the right. The telescope domes seen on the right are the Subaru telescope and the twin Keck telescopes.
Size: 5400px × 3600px
Location: Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA
Photo credit: © Richard Wainscoat / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: astronomy, diffuse, dust, ecliptic, galaxies, galaxy, glow, hawaii, interplanetary, kea, light, m31, m33, mauna, night, observatory, research, sciience, sky, starlight, stars, telescope, zodiac, zodiacal
