The Milky Way and the zodiacal light



In the southern hemisphere, the central zone of the Milky Way, so elusive at our latitudes, travels very high on the horizon and is able to shine faintly on the ground, creating soft and diffused shadows. In the planet’s remotest places, this is the only source of nocturnal light and this is the reason it seems to shine even brighter, to the point that one has the sensation of being overwhelmed by the immensity of the Universe. 

You can see everything in the following photograph, which shows a panoramic view of the Galaxy observed in the uncontaminated Atacama desert sky. That impetuous column of light superimposed over the dense central zones isn’t light pollution or the Galaxy’s light. It’s the zodiacal light: billions of thin and miniscule dust particles roaming in the Solar System are illuminated by the Sun and diffuse a tiny percentage of its light, which can brighten the panorama in the total dark of those uncontaminated places.

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