Astronomy Picture of the Day |
APOD: 2008 May 7 - The Gegenschein Over Chile
Explanation:
Is the night sky darkest in the direction opposite the Sun?
No. In fact, a rarely discernable faint glow known as
the gegenschein (German for "counter glow") can be seen 180
degrees around from the Sun in an extremely dark sky.
The gegenschein is sunlight back-scattered off small interplanetary
dust particles.
These dust particles are millimeter sized splinters from
asteroids and orbit in the
ecliptic plane of the planets.
Pictured above from last October is one of the most spectacular pictures of
the gegenschein yet taken.
Here a deep exposure of an extremely dark sky over
Paranal Observatory in
Chile shows
the gegenschein so clearly that even a surrounding glow is visible.
In the foreground are several of the
European Southern Observatory's
Very Large Telescopes,
while notable background objects include the
Andromeda galaxy toward the lower left and the
Pleiades star cluster just above the horizon.
The gegenschein
is distinguished from zodiacal light near the Sun by the
high angle of reflection.
During the day, a phenomenon similar to
the gegenschein called the glory can
be seen in reflecting air or clouds opposite the Sun from an airplane.
APOD: 2006 December 26 - The Gegenschein
Explanation:
If you look carefully enough, you can even see the glow of the
Sun in the opposite direction.
At night this glow is known as
the gegenschein (German for "counter glow"),
and can be seen as a faint glow in an extremely dark sky.
The gegenschein is sunlight back-scattered off small interplanetary
dust particles.
These dust particles are millimeter sized splinters from
asteroids and orbit in the
ecliptic plane of the planets.
Pictured above, the gegenschein is seen superposed toward the constellation of Pisces.
The gegenschein
is distinguished from zodiacal light by the
high angle of reflection.
During the day, a phenomenon similar to
the gegenschein called the glory can
be seen in reflecting air or clouds opposite the Sun from an airplane.
APOD: 2004 August 6 - The Giant and the Glory
Explanation:
On a flight from Vienna to Brussels, astronomer Franz Kerschbaum
looked out the window and
photographed this beautiful
atmospheric phenomenon,
the
glory, shining in the direction directly opposite
the Sun.
Before airplanes, the glory, known to some as the
heiligenschein or the
Specter of the Brocken, was occasionally
seen from mountaintops.
There, when conditions were right, one could
look away from the Sun
and see what appeared to be the
shadow of a giant
surrounded by a bright
halo.
Of course, the giant turns out to be the observer,
and in the modern version a silhouette of a plane
frequently occupies the glory's center.
The cause of the glory is relatively complex.
Briefly, small droplets of water
reflect,
refract, and
diffract sunlight backwards towards the Sun.
The phenomenon has a
counterpart in astronomy, where
looking out from planet Earth
in the direction opposite the Sun yields a bright spot called
the gegenschein.
APOD: 2002 April 17 - The Glory
Explanation:
Looking out the window of an airplane,
you might be lucky enough to see "the glory"
in the direction directly opposite the Sun.
Before airplanes, the phenomenon, known to some as the
heiligenschein or the
Specter of the Brocken, was sometimes seen from mountaintops.
There, when conditions were right, one could
look away from the Sun
and see what appeared to be the
shadow of a giant
surrounded by a bright
halo.
The giant turns out to be the observer,
as in the modern version a
silhouette of an plane
frequently occupies the glory's center.
Pictured above, several concentric rings of
the glory were photographed.
The cause of the glory has only been understood
recently and is relatively complex.
Briefly, small droplets of water
reflect,
refract, and
diffract sunlight backwards towards the
Sun.
The phenomenon has similar counterparts in
other branches of science including
astronomy, where the
looking out from the Earth
in the direction opposite the Sun yields a bright spot called
the gegenschein.
APOD: June 25, 1999 - The Gegenschein
Explanation:
If you look carefully enough, you can even see
the glow of the
Sun in the opposite direction.
At night this glow is known as
the gegenschein (German for "counter glow"),
and can be seen as a faint glow in an extremely dark sky, as
pictured above.
The gegenschein is sunlight back-scattered off small
dust particles. These
dust particles are millimeter sized splinters from
asteroids and orbit in the
ecliptic plane of the planets.
The gegenschein is distinguished from
zodiacal light by the
high angle of reflection. At day, a phenomenon similar to
the gegenschien
called the glory can be seen in clouds opposite
the Sun from an airplane.