Glossary term: Luz zodiacal
Description: Dentro del Sistema Solar, los planetas y otros cuerpos celestes orbitan en su mayoría dentro del plano de la eclíptica. El polvo interplanetario de nuestro entorno cósmico también se concentra cerca de ese plano. Parte de la luz solar es reflejada por esos granos de polvo interplanetario que se encuentran en la eclíptica hacia la Tierra. En principio, esto produce una tenue franja luminosa que atraviesa el cielo nocturno, a lo largo del zodíaco —la región del cielo nocturno cercana a la eclíptica—. En la práctica, ese resplandor solo es visible a simple vista hacia el este poco antes del amanecer o hacia el oeste poco después del atardecer, únicamente cerca del horizonte y solo desde un lugar de observación naturalmente oscuro. Esa parte visible del resplandor es la luz zodiacal: una región difusa y brillante con forma de triángulo redondeado y alargado que se extiende desde el horizonte a lo largo de un pequeño tramo de la eclíptica.
Related Terms:
See this term in other languages
Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval
The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".
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In Other Languages
- Árabe: الضوء البروجي
- Alemán: Zodiakallicht
- Inglés: Zodiacal Light
- Persa: نور منطقة البروجی
- Francés: Lumière zodiacale
- Italiano: Luce zodiacale
- Japonés: 黄道光 (external link)
- Portugués de Brasil: Luz Zodiacal
- Chino simplificado: 黄道光
- Chino tradicional: 黃道光
Related Media
Zodiacal Light over GTC Observatory
Caption: Winner in the 2022 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Still images of celestial patterns.
Taken from La Palma, Canary Islands, in May 2022, this image captures the Zodiacal light, three prominent constellations (Gemini, Cancer and Auriga), and the Beehive Cluster, which appears as a small nebulosity to the unaided eye under dark skies. The Zodiacal light is a triangular white glow stretching along the ecliptic that is visible here at the western horizon shortly after sunset.The Canary Islands were considered the westernmost land of the inhabited world by the ancient Greeks. The dim shimmer in the Zodiac might have inspired the Greek philosopher Plato to think that the Sun leaves a trace of sunny glitter in its wake, and that the current path of the Sun, the ecliptic, has not always been its path. Plato believed that the Milky Way was a former path of the Sun and that its bright clouds are sparks of the Sun’s glory left behind. Today, we know that these two phenomena in the sky have different causes; while the Zodiacal light is really caused by reflection of sunlight from very tiny dust particles in the plane of the ecliptic, the Milky Way consists of billions of stars. The Zodiacal light is a smooth cone of light from the horizon upwards, while the Milky Way crosses the whole sky and also includes dark clouds.
The Zodiac is described by Indigenous Australians as the Dreaming Road, and the Zodiacal light is a celestial rope connecting Venus to the Sun. The two bright stars in the top-left of the image are Castor (the bluish star) and Pollux (the whitish star), which are part of the constellation Gemini, the Twins. The two bright stars towards the bottom-right of the image are Menkalinan (the dimmer one) and Capella (the brighter one), which are part of the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer.
The Wergaia people of Western Victoria in Australia see Castor and Pollux as brothers who hunt the kangaroo Purra in their stories. This has coincidental similarities to the Babylonian story, where they are considered two strong gods of the Netherworld, depicted with weapons. The Greco-Roman myth of the twins describes them as two brothers who accompanied the first ocean sailor, Jason, on voyages with the The Ship, Argo. A similar myth exists in the Blackfoot traditions of the First Nations people of Canada and the USA, where they are considered the two brothers Ashes Chief and Struck-behind.
Credit: Amirreza Kamkar/IAU OAE
License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Reconocimiento 4.0 Internacional (CC BY 4.0) icons
