Zodiacal light is a faint glow of diffuse light in the sky scattered by interplanetary dust, particularly a zodiacal cloud, along the ecliptic, and therefore the zodiac. It is mostly only visible in very dark conditions across the night sky along the whole ecliptic as the zodiacal band, backscattered slightly brighter from an oval area of the band directly opposite to the light source as the gegenschein and brightest as a triangle-shaped area at the horizon around the light source as false dawn, mostly just before or after the Sun rises or sets.
Two false dawns, gegenschein (middle) and the rest of the zodiacal band of light and zodiac marked (visually crossed by the Milky Way), in this composite image of the night sky above the northern and southern hemisphere
Zodiacal light seen behind the Submillimeter Array from the summit of Mauna Kea
Moonlight and zodiacal light over La Silla Observatory
Colorful center of the Milky Way and the zodiacal light above the Very Large Telescope
Interplanetary dust cloud
The interplanetary dust cloud, or zodiacal cloud, consists of cosmic dust that pervades the space between planets within planetary systems, such as the Solar System. This system of particles has been studied for many years in order to understand its nature, origin, and relationship to larger bodies. There are several methods to obtain space dust measurement.
The interplanetary dust cloud illuminated and visible as zodiacal light, with its parts the false dawn, gegenschein and the rest of its band, which is visually crossed by the Milky Way, in this composite image of the night sky above the northern and southern hemisphere
Artist's concept of a view from an exoplanet, with light from an extrasolar interplanetary dust cloud
