Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2022 March 1
   [2]The featured image shows a nightscape over China featuring bands of
     zodiacal light, on the left, and the central band of our Milky Way
     Galaxy, on the right. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                         Dueling Bands in the Night
               Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Jeff Dai ([4]TWAN)

   Explanation: What are these two bands in the sky? The more commonly
   seen band is the one on the right and is the central band of [5]our
   Milky Way galaxy. Our [6]Sun orbits in the disk of this [7]spiral
   galaxy, so that from inside, this disk [8]appears as a band of
   comparable brightness all the way around the sky. The [9]Milky Way band
   can also be seen all year -- if out [10]away from [11]city lights. The
   less commonly seem band, on the left, is [12]zodiacal light -- sunlight
   reflected from dust orbiting the Sun in our Solar System. [13]Zodiacal
   light is brightest near the Sun and so is best seen just before sunrise
   or just after sunset. On some evenings in the north, particularly
   during the months of March and April, this ribbon of [14]zodiacal light
   can appear quite prominent after sunset. It was [15]determined only
   this century that zodiacal dust was mostly expelled by comets that have
   passed [16]near Jupiter. Only on certain times of the year will the two
   bands be seen side by side, in parts of the sky, like this. The
   [17]featured image, including the [18]Andromeda galaxy and a meteor,
   was captured in late January over a frozen lake in [19]Kanding,
   [20]Sichuan, [21]China.

                  Tomorrow's picture: it came from the sun
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([36]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [37]Specific rights apply.
              [38]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [39]ASD at [40]NASA / [41]GSFC
                           & [42]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2203/DuelingBands_Dai_2000.jpg
   3. http://www.twanight.org/Dai
   4. http://www.twanight.org/
   5. https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objects/milkyway1.html
   6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/overview/
   7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170917.html
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170328.html
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110710.html
  10. https://petapixel.com/2017/02/09/light-pollution-changes-view-orion-constellation/
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200408.html
  12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiacal_light
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070925.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040825.html
  15. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010ApJ...713..816N/abstract
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180226.html
  17. https://twanight.org/gallery/dueling-lights/
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220119.html
  19. https://youtu.be/l0K7t1VcMtU
  20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan
  21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220228.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  31. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=220301
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220302.html
  33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  39. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  42. http://www.mtu.edu/