Zodiacal Light over Icy Lake Huron

Zodiacal light, captured in March by the Lake Huron shore, when spring is around the corner and ice on the lake starts to retreat. The zodiacal light is the patch of light extending from the centre of the image to the top left, passing through Taurus, Aries and Pisces, three of the constellations on the zodiac.

Zodiacal light is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust orbiting the sun. Imagine the ecliptic plane on which Earth (and to a good approximation, most planets) orbits the sun. On this same plane is the dust cloud, from Earth’s orbit to just beyond Mars, that gives us zodiacal light. There are various theories as to the origin of this dust, from debris left behind by comets, to dust whipped up from Mars.

At mid-latitudes, zodiacal light is best observed around the spring equinox looking west just after the end of dusk, or around the fall equinox looking east just before the start of dawn.