The Zodiacal light is a faint and triangular white glow, visible in the night sky and appears to extend from the Sun's direction and along the zodiac, straddling the ecliptic. Sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust causes this phenomenon. Zodiacal light is best seen during twilight after sunset in spring and before sunrise in autumn, when the zodiac is at a steep angle to the horizon. However, the glow is so faint that moonlight and/or light pollution outshine it, rendering it invisible; the brightness of zodiacal light decreases with distance from the Sun. In dark night skies, the glow is visible as a band along the entire zodiac straddling the ecliptic. In fact, zodiacal light spans the entire sky and contributes to the total natural light in a clear and moonless night sky. Another phenomenon – a faint but brighter oval glow – directly opposite of the Sun is the gegenschein, caused by backscattered sunlight; the interplanetary dust in the Solar System collectively forms a thick, pancake-shaped cloud called the zodiacal cloud, which straddles the ecliptic plane.

The particle sizes range most with a mass around 150 micrograms. The Pioneer 10 spacecraft observations in the 1970s linked zodiacal light with the interplanetary dust cloud in the Solar System. In the mid-latitudes, the zodiacal light is best observed in the western sky in the spring after the evening twilight has disappeared, or in the eastern sky in the autumn just before the morning twilight appears; the zodiacal light appears as a column, brighter at the horizon, tilted at the angle of the ecliptic. The light scattered from small dust particles is forward scattering, although the zodiacal light extends all the way around the sky, hence it is brightest when observing at a small angle with the Sun; this is why it is most visible near sunrise or sunset, when the sun is blocked, but the dust particles nearest the line of sight to the sun are not. The dust band that causes the zodiacal light is uniform across the whole ecliptic; the dust further from the ecliptic is undetectable except when viewed at a small angle with the sun.

Thus it is possible to see more of the width at small angles toward the sun, it appears wider near the horizon, closer to the sun under the horizon. The source of the dust has been long debated; until it was thought that the dust originated from the tails of active comets and from collisions between asteroids in the asteroid belt. Many of our meteor showers have no known active comet parent bodies. Over 85 percent of the dust is attributed to occasional fragmentations of Jupiter-family comets that are nearly dormant. Jupiter-family comets have orbital periods of less than 20 years and are considered dormant when not outgassing, but may do so in the future; the first dynamical model of the zodiacal cloud demonstrated that only if the dust was released in orbits that approach Jupiter, is it stirred up enough to explain the thickness of the zodiacal dust cloud. The dust in meteoroid streams is much larger, 300 to 10,000 micrometres in diameter, falls apart into smaller zodiacal dust grains over time.

The Poynting–Robertson effect forces the dust into more circular orbits, while spiralling into the Sun. Hence a continuous source of new particles is needed to maintain the zodiacal cloud. Cometary dust and dust generated by collisions among the asteroids are believed to be responsible for the maintenance of the dust cloud producing the zodiacal light and the gegenschein. Particles can be reduced in size by space weathering; when ground down to sizes less than 10 micrometres, the grains are removed from the inner Solar System by solar radiation pressure. The dust is replenished by the infall from comets. Zodiacal dust around nearby stars is called exozodiacal dust, it has been pointed out that this exozodiacal dust, or hot debris disks, can be an indicator of planets, as planets tend to scatter the comets to the inner Solar System. In 2015, new results from the secondary ion dust spectrometer COSIMA on board the ESA/Rosetta orbiter confirmed that the parent bodies of interplanetary dust are most Jupiter-family comets such as comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Zodiacal light is produced by sunlight reflecting off dust particles in the Solar System known as cosmic dust. Its spectrum is the same as the solar spectrum; the material producing the zodiacal light is located in a lens-shaped volume of space centered on the sun and extending well out beyond the orbit of Earth. This material is known as the interplanetary dust cloud. Since most of the material is located near the plane of the Solar System, the zodiacal light is seen along the ecliptic; the amount of material needed to produce the observed zodiacal light is quite small. If it were in the form of 1 mm particles, each with the same albedo as Earth's moon, each particle would be 8 km from its neighbors; the gegenschein may be caused by particles directly opposite the Sun as seen from Earth, which would be in full phase. According to Nesvorný and Jenniskens, when the dust grains are as small as about 150 micrometres in size, they will hit the Earth at an average speed of 14.5 km/s, many as as 12 km/s.

If so, they pointed out, this comet dust can survive entry in molten form, accounting for the unusual attributes of the micrometeorites collected in Antarctica, which do not resemble the larger meteorites known to originate from asteroids. In recent years, observations by a variety of spacecraft have shown significant st

These are the official results of the Women's Pole Vault event at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, held on August 7 and August 12, 2005. All times are Eastern European Time Group A1. Anna Rogowska, Poland 4.45m Q 2. Jillian Schwartz, United States 4.45m Q 2. Tatyana Polnova, Russia 4.45m Q 4. Caroline Hingst, Germany 4.45m Q 5. Vanessa Boslak, France 4.40m q 6. Tracy O'Hara, United States 4.40m q 6. Naroa Agirre, Spain 4.40m q 8. Janine Whitlock, Great Britain 4.40m 9. Thórey Edda Elisdóttir, Iceland 4.15m 9. Takayo Kondo, Japan 4.15m 9. Kirsten Belin, Sweden 4.15m 12. Melina Hamilton, New Zealand 4.15m 13. Natalya Kushch, Ukraine 4.15m 14. Kelsey Hendry, Canada 4.00m 14. Zhao Yingying, China 4.00m Group B1. Monika Pyrek, Poland 4.45m Q 1. Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia 4.45m Q 3. Gao Shuying, China 4.45m Q 4. Dana Ellis, Canada 4.40m q 4. Pavla Hamáčková, Czech Republic 4.40m q 6. Tatiana Grigorieva, Australia 4.45m q 7. Fabiana Murer, Brazil 4.40m 8. Stacy Dragila, United States 4.40m 9. Anzhela Balakhonova, Ukraine 4.15m 9.

Krisztina Molnár, Hungary 4.15m 9. Afroditi Skafida, Greece 4.15 m 12. Elisabete Tavares, Portugal 4.00m 13. Teja Melink, Slovenia 4.00m Anna Fitidou, Cyprus NM Nadine Rohr, Switzerland NM IAAF results, heats IAAF results, final

The 1976–77 NHL season was the 60th season of the National Hockey League. The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons; the Montreal Canadiens once again dominated the playoffs as, for the second straight year, they swept their opponent four games to none in the final series for the Stanley Cup. Two teams would relocate: The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland and became the Cleveland Barons; the last time a relocation had occurred was when the original Ottawa Senators had relocated in 1934 to become the St. Louis Eagles. Instability and the poor performances of the Washington Capitals and the Scouts since the 1974 expansion caused the league to shelve an expansion to Denver and Seattle, proposed for this season; this season was Clarence Campbell's last as NHL President. He would be succeeded by John Ziegler.

The previous season saw the Montreal Canadiens set new records in points. Both of those records were broken again by the Canadiens this season as, with the highest points percentage in post-expansion NHL history, they had 60 wins and 132 points, their home record was 33 wins, 1 loss, 6 ties. Scoring two hundred goals more than they allowed, the Canadiens were a full 20 points ahead of the second-place Philadelphia Flyers; the Flyers, were swept in four straight games by the third-place Boston Bruins in the semi-finals. The Bruins were in turn swept by the Canadiens in four straight in the finals. On February 2, 1977, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Ian Turnbull became the first player in NHL history to score five goals on five shots. Prince of Wales ConferenceClarence Campbell Conference The New York Islanders won six consecutive games before the semi-final and were the only team from the preliminary round to make it to the semi-finals, where they lost to the first-ranked, defending champion and eventual champion Montreal Canadiens.

The Canadiens swept the St. Louis Blues, dispatched the Islanders in six to reach the final; the losses to the Islanders were the Canadiens' only losses of their playoff run. Second-ranked Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the quarter-final, before being swept by the third-ranked Boston Bruins in the semi-final. For the 1976–77 Stanley Cup playoff tournament, the top three teams in each division were awarded playoff berths; these twelve teams were ranked 1 through 12 according to their regular season records, regardless of divisional affiliation. The four division winners automatically qualified for the quarterfinals, while the remaining eight teams played a preliminary round. For the preliminary round, the top-ranked non-division winner played the twelfth-ranked team, the second top ranked non-division winner played the eleventh-ranked team, the third ranked non-division winner played the third-lowest ranked non-division winner; the remaining two non-division winners formed the final preliminary round pairing.

The preliminary round consisted of a best-of-three series with the first game played on the home ice of the higher-ranked team, the second game on the home ice of the lower-ranked team. If a third and deciding game was necessary, it was played on the home ice of the higher-ranked team. For the quarterfinal and the Stanley Cup Finals, each series was a best-of-seven, with home-ice advantage in games 1, 2, 5 and 7 going to the team with the better regular season record; the other team hosted games 3 and 4, game 6 if it was necessary. The four preliminary round winners joined the four division winners for the quarterfinals; the matchups were determined according to regular season records regardless to divisional affiliations. Of the eight remaining teams, the top-ranked team played the lowest-ranked remaining team, the second-highest-ranked remaining team played the second-lowest-ranked remaining team, so on; the four quarterfinal winners advanced to the semifinals, with the match-ups again are reseeded by regular season records.

The highest-ranked remaining team played the lowest-ranked remaining team, the other two teams formed the second semifinal. The two semifinal winners played each other in the Stanley Cup Finals; the twelve teams that qualified for the playoffs are ranked 1–12 based on regular season points. Note: Only teams that qualified for the playoffs are listed here. Montreal Canadiens, Norris Division champions, Prince of Wales Conference regular season champions – 132 points Philadelphia Flyers, Patrick Division champions, Clarence Campbell Conference regular season champions – 112 points Boston Bruins, Adams Division champions – 106 points New York Islanders – 106 points Buffalo Sabres – 104 points Los Angeles Kings – 83 points Pittsburgh Penguins – 81 points Toronto Maple Leafs – 81 points Atlanta Flames – 80 points St. Louis Blues, Smythe Division champions – 73 points Minnesota North Stars – 64 points Chicago Black Hawks – 63 points Division winners earned a bye to the Quarterfinals Teams were re-seeded based on regular season record after the Preliminary and Quarterfinal rounds The defending champion Montreal Canadiens took on the "Original Six" rival, the third-ranked Boston Bruins in the Final.

Both teams had lost only two games in the earlier rounds. The Canadiens swept the series in four games to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = P

The Strade Bianche Donne named Strade Bianche Rosa by Italian media, is an annual professional women's road bicycle racing event in Tuscany, Italy. A quarter of the route is raced on white gravel roads – unpaved country lanes winding through the countryside of the Chianti region – from which the event gets its name. First held in 2015, the race serves as the opening event of the UCI Women's World Tour, cycling's top-tier female elite competition, it is organized on the same day as the men's race, on the first or second saturday of March, on much of the same roads but at a shorter distance. Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten won the most recent edition in 2019; the first women's Strade Bianche was organized in 2015, following the success of the men's event, created in 2007. The inaugural edition was won by American Megan Guarnier after distancing her team mate Lizzie Armitstead and Italian Elisa Longo Borghini during the final stretches of the race. In 2016, the event was upgraded to UCI World Tour level, the highest level of international women's cycling.

Britain's Lizzie Armitstead won the race in the rainbow jersey as ruling world road champion. Elisa Longo Borghini won the third edition in 2017, becoming the first Italian winner of the Strade Bianche; the 2018 race was run in abysmal weather, with cold temperatures and heavy rainfall making the gravel roads exceptionally muddy. Ruling olympic road race champion Anna van der Breggen won the edition after a 17 km solo attack. Van der Breggen held a one-minute lead on Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma, who finished second for the third consecutive year. Only 59 of 136 starters finished 17 women arrived outside of the time limit; the Strade Bianche starts and finishes in Siena, crossing the southern half of the province of Siena in Tuscany. The race is run over 136 km on undulating terrain and is characterized by the presence of white gravel roads. There are eight sectors of gravel in difficulty, totalling 30 km of dirt roads; the first edition finished in Siena, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The inaugural race was run over a distance of 103 km and featured five gravel sectors, totalling 17 km of strade bianche.

In 2016, the start of the race moved to Siena. The total distance was increased to 121 km, including 22.4 km of dirt roads spread over seven sectors. Six sectors were in common with the men's route. In 2018, an extra gravel sector was added, bringing the total to 30 km of dirt roads on eight sectors, covering a total race distance of 136 km; the longest strada bianca is the 9.5 km sector of San Martino in Grania. The most notorious is the four-starred sector of Colle Pinzuto, at 20 km from the finish; the final gravel sector is in Le Tolfe, just northeast of Siena, after which 12 km remain to the finish. The final kilometre is on the roughly-paved Via Santa Caterina in the heart of the medieval city; the narrow ascent contains steep sections of 16% followed by a short descent and a flat finish on Siena's illustrious Piazza del Campo

David Meister is an American fashion designer known for his women’s wear. As a young child in Cincinnati, David was influenced by style-conscious TV shows such as Sonny & Cher, which fueled his aspiration of becoming a fashion designer. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Meister graduated from La Salle High School in 1980, he earned a degree in fashion design from The University of Cincinnati College of Design, Art and Planning in 1985. After graduation, he secured a position at Danskin. In November 1998, Meister joined forces with a Californian division of Kellwood Company, to create a signature evening collection. Five months he premiered his first fall line, a compilation of modern and elegant eveningwear. In August 2009, Meister launched his Signature collection at Bergdorf Goodman, he launched his exclusive Bridal Collection with Designer Bride in 2010 consisting of twelve styles available at bridal boutiques nationwide. His dresses, evening wear and couture red carpet designs have been worn by socialites and celebrities.

Diane Lane chose Meister for the 2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards. Meister is a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, his label can be found at venues such as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue. Official website

Eric John Smith was an award-winning Australian artist. Smith won many of Australia's major art prizes multiple times including the Archibald Prize for portraiture three times. Eric Smith was raised in Brunswick, Melbourne. At the age of 17 Smith undertook the study of Commercial Art and Painting at the Brunswick Technical School and joined the Victorian Artists Society. In 1940 Smith joined the Australian Army for the remainder of the Second World War. Upon the end of the war, Smith pursued his artistic ambitions. In 1945, a self-portrait painted on an army canvas was runner-up for the Archibald Prize. In 1956 Smith had his work shown in the Macquarie Galleries, during the "Direction" exhibition; the success of this exhibition led to Smith's work being included in the 1963 exhibition of Australian art shown at the Tate Gallery in London. Whilst in London in 1963, Smith gained further international recognition after winning the Helena Rubenstein Art Award. In 1970 Smith won the Archibald again for his portrait of Sydney architect Neville Gruzman.

Smith's 3rd winning 1981 portraiture of the Archibald Prize caused a controversy within the art world. In 1975 John Bloomfield's winning entry was disqualified due to his portraiture of Tim Burstall being painted from a photograph, it is a condition of entry that all portraits be painted from life rather than interpretations of photographs. Bloomfield asserted that Smith's portraiture of Rudy Komon resembled a photograph taken of the subject in 1974 and hence in breach of the competition's requirements. Bloomfield threatened legal action to prevent the prize being awarded to Smith; the controversy subsided when gallery director/art dealer Komon came to Smith's defence and said he had sat for Smith many times over the previous twenty-one years. 1944 Australia at War, War on Land Prize 1948 Catholic Centenary Art Prize 1948 CRTS Shell Company Prize 1948 CRTS Norman Bros Prize 1950 Victorian Artists’ Society, ‘60 Drawings’ Herald Prize 1953 Berrima Art Prize 1955 Contemporary Art Society 1955 Contemporary Art Society, Madach Prize 1955 Adelaide Advertiser Prize 1956 Bathurst Art Prize 1960 Journalists’ Club Prize 1962 Royal Art Society of New South Wales Easter Show Prize 1963 Helena Rubenstein Art Award 1965 Roy H. Taffs Contemporary Art Society Award 1967 Darcy Morris Memorial Prize 1969 Royal Art Society of New South Wales, Portrait Prize 1975 Muswellbrook Art Prize Eric Smith, Australian Artist