Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2021 October 2 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. A Light and Dusty Night Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Rodrigo Guerra Explanation: [5]Posing as a brilliant evening star, Venus lies near the western horizon in this southern hemisphere, early spring, night skyscape. To create the composite view exposures tracking the sky and fixed for the foreground were taken on September 25 from Cascavel in southern Brazil. In view after sunset, Venus appears immersed in a cone of zodiacal light, sunlight scattered from dust along the [6]Solar System's ecliptic plane. In fact from either hemisphere of planet Earth, [7]zodiacal light is most visible after sunset near a spring equinox, (or before sunrise near an autumn equinox) when its luminous arc lies at steep angles to the horizon. Extending above the sunset on this night, the zodiacal light reaches toward rich starfields and immense interstellar dust clouds in the bulge of the central Milky Way. Follow along the Milky Way from the central bulge back toward the horizon and you'll spot the closest star system to the Sun, Alpha Centauri, [8]a mere 4.37 light-years away. Tomorrow's picture: holographic tea time __________________________________________________________________ [9]< | [10]Archive | [11]Submissions | [12]Index | [13]Search | [14]Calendar | [15]RSS | [16]Education | [17]About APOD | [18]Discuss | [19]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [20]Robert Nemiroff ([21]MTU) & [22]Jerry Bonnell ([23]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [24]Specific rights apply. [25]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [26]ASD at [27]NASA / [28]GSFC & [29]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2110/ArcsOfLightAndDust.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.instagram.com/rodrigoguerra13/ 5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210716.html 6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/chapter2-2/ 7. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-zodiacal-light-or-false-dawn/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160825.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211001.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 13. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 18. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=211002 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211003.html 20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 23. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 25. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 26. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 27. https://www.nasa.gov/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 29. http://www.mtu.edu/