Connection of the celestial spheres

The presented panorama of the night sky was made up of two images taken at the sites where the Gemini South (left) and Gemini North (right) telescopes are installed. But these telescopes are not in the same place, and not even on the same continent. Gemini South is located in Chile, while Gemini North is on top of the Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea. Thus, the presented panorama makes it possible to see a “slice” of the entire terrestrial sky.

A panorama of the night sky obtained by combining images taken from the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth. Source: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/ P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava), T. Slovinský

When looking at the image, you can pay attention to the light strip crossing it. This is the zodiacal light — a faint glow observed shortly after sunset or before sunrise. It occurs due to the scattering of sunlight on interplanetary dust particles. The phenomenon got its name because of the constant visibility in the zodiac constellations.

In the center of the panorama, you can also see a bright spot that is located on the opposite side of the Sun. This is a Gegenschein. It has the same nature as the zodiacal light. The Gegenschein occurs due to the scattering of sunlight on a lens-shaped accumulation of dust particles lying in the plane of the ecliptic.

Zodiac light and Gegenschein. Source: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/ P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava), T. Slovinský

The image also shows a strip of the Milky Way, several nebulae, Jupiter rising together with Venus (the brightest spot on the left), Mars and Saturn in the center of the zodiacal light. It is curious that the Red Planet is one of the main “suppliers” of dust, thanks to which we can observe the zodiacal light. Other sources of it are comet tails and the consequences of asteroid collisions.

According to https://noirlab.edu

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