Here's something you might be interested in.
The Zodiacal Light, which can appear as a diffuse, pillar-shaped glow in the eastern sky for up to an hour before dawn, will be quite conspicuous at dark locations this weekend (September 19-20) through next weekend (September 25-26). The subtle glow is caused by the sun's light reflecting off dust particles floating in space in the plane of our solar system. In the sky, this reflected light appears superimposed along the string of constellations we know as the zodiac, and especially those zodiacal constellations closest to the direction of the sun. An old name for this phenomenon is "false dawn" -- a good description of the effect under clear and very dark skies.
The Zodiacal Light, which can appear as a diffuse, pillar-shaped glow in the eastern sky for up to an hour before dawn, will be quite conspicuous at dark locations this weekend (September 19-20) through next weekend (September 25-26). The subtle glow is caused by the sun's light reflecting off dust particles floating in space in the plane of our solar system. In the sky, this reflected light appears superimposed along the string of constellations we know as the zodiac, and especially those zodiacal constellations closest to the direction of the sun. An old name for this phenomenon is "false dawn" -- a good description of the effect under clear and very dark skies.