Jan 25, 2010: Zodiacal Light

xoxoxoBruce · 01-24-2010, 10:41 PM

Zodiacal Light, sounds like the quickie horoscopes from fortune cookies, or the newspaper's comics page.
Actually, Zodiacal Light is a fancy name for the Sun's tail.

Quote:

The zodiacal light is sunlight reflected by dust particles between the Sun and Earth, and is best seen close to sunrise or sunset. As its name implies, this celestial glow appears in the ring of constellations known as the zodiac. These are found along the ecliptic, which is the eastward apparent “path” that the Sun traces across Earth’s sky.

See, dirt is good, you clean freaks. :p

link

monster · 01-24-2010, 11:00 PM

Looks like an egg frying in the sea.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-24-2010, 11:04 PM

Yes, except the sea is clouds... at about 8,000 ft.

monster · 01-24-2010, 11:13 PM

right. hence the "looks like...."

..it looks like an egg frying in the sea, but actually it's not an egg or the sea. funny business, this

SPUCK · 01-25-2010, 03:07 AM

Zodiacal Light? Yeah right. That's just my neighbor's house lit up like the state pen.

Trilby · 01-25-2010, 08:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by monster

Looks like an egg frying in the sea.

Similie win!

Pie · 01-25-2010, 08:32 AM

FWIW, the zodiacal light is the haze in the sky, not the lights on the ground.

lupin..the..3rd · 01-25-2010, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pie

FWIW, the zodiacal light is the haze in the sky, not the lights on the ground.

I thought the ground was the clouds at 8000 feet? Therefore, the egg in the sea is sky.

glatt · 01-25-2010, 09:07 AM

"The La Silla Observatory is located at the outskirts of the Chilean Atacama Desert, one of the driest and loneliest areas of the world. Like other observatories in this geographical area, La Silla is located far from sources of light pollution and, like the Paranal Observatory, home to the Very Large Telescope, it has one of the darkest night skies on the Earth."

glatt · 01-25-2010, 09:17 AM

Actually, the egg could be in the sea. La Silla is about 40 miles from the Pacific ocean. Using Google Earth, you can see that the ocean is visible from there.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-25-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

The photograph was taken at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile in September 2009, facing west some minutes after the Sun had set. A sea of clouds has settled in the valley below La Silla, which sits at an altitude of 2400 metres, with lesser peaks and ridges poking through the mist.

The yellow fried egg is the sun shining through the clouds from below.

Pie · 01-25-2010, 11:16 AM

The sun's in the plane of the ecliptic, so it would be co-linear with the zodiacal light. The bright semi-foreground object is not in that plane.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-25-2010, 11:25 AM

So it must be an egg.

glatt · 01-25-2010, 11:30 AM

I think it's the lights from the coastal village of Los Choros (29 17' 26"S, 71 18' 34"W) lighting up some fog.

jinx · 01-25-2010, 11:43 AM

Fire! Fire! [/beavis]

01-24-2010, 11:00 PM	#2
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Looks like an egg frying in the sea. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

01-24-2010, 11:04 PM	#3
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Yes, except the sea is clouds... at about 8,000 ft. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

01-24-2010, 11:13 PM	#4
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	right. hence the "looks like...." ..it looks like an egg frying in the sea, but actually it's not an egg or the sea. funny business, this __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

01-25-2010, 08:32 AM	#7
Pie Gone and done Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,808	FWIW, the zodiacal light is the haze in the sky, not the lights on the ground. __________________ per·son \ˈpər-sən\ (noun) - an ephemeral collection of small, irrational decisions The fun thing about evolution (and science in general) is that it happens whether you believe in it or not.

01-25-2010, 09:17 AM	#10
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	Actually, the egg could be in the sea. La Silla is about 40 miles from the Pacific ocean. Using Google Earth, you can see that the ocean is visible from there. Attached Images Last edited by glatt; 01-25-2010 at 09:22 AM. Reason: Because I was looking at the wrong observatory. LaSilla is even closer to the sea.

01-25-2010, 03:07 AM	#5
SPUCK Professor Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,911	Zodiacal Light? Yeah right. That's just my neighbor's house lit up like the state pen.

01-25-2010, 09:07 AM	#9
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	"The La Silla Observatory is located at the outskirts of the Chilean Atacama Desert, one of the driest and loneliest areas of the world. Like other observatories in this geographical area, La Silla is located far from sources of light pollution and, like the Paranal Observatory, home to the Very Large Telescope, it has one of the darkest night skies on the Earth."

01-25-2010, 11:16 AM	#12
Pie Gone and done Join Date: Sep 2001 Posts: 4,808	The sun's in the plane of the ecliptic, so it would be co-linear with the zodiacal light. The bright semi-foreground object is not in that plane. __________________ per·son \ˈpər-sən\ (noun) - an ephemeral collection of small, irrational decisions The fun thing about evolution (and science in general) is that it happens whether you believe in it or not.

01-25-2010, 11:25 AM	#13
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	So it must be an egg. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

01-25-2010, 11:30 AM	#14
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	I think it's the lights from the coastal village of Los Choros (29 17' 26"S, 71 18' 34"W) lighting up some fog.

01-25-2010, 11:43 AM	#15
jinx Come on, cat. Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area Posts: 7,013	Fire! Fire! [/beavis] __________________ Crying won't help you, praying won't do you no good.

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