Gegenschein or counterglow is a faintly bright spot in the night sky centered at the antisolar point. The backscatter of sunlight by interplanetary dust causes this optical phenomenon, being a zodiacal light and part of its zodiacal light band.
The gegenschein appears in this image as a bright spot on the diagonal band (running top left to lower right) above the Very Large Telescope. (The Andromeda Galaxy and Pleiades are prominent in the lower half of the image.)
The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon.
Stars in the night sky
The Milky Way is brighter in the Southern Hemisphere than in the North. (Photo taken at La Silla Observatory)
Paranal Observatory nights. The concept of noctcaelador tackles the aesthetic perception of the night sky.
The Milky Way contains billions of stars, arranged in two strikingly different structures: halo and disc.