A strange triangle will appear in the zodiac this month. How to see rare 'zodiacal light,' before it disappears.

By Jamie Carter published 24 hours ago

A 'false dusk' will be visible during twilight in February, but only from locations that are free of light pollution. Here's everything you need to know about zodiacal light.



The zodiacal light from the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile in September 2009. (Image credit: ESO/Y. Beletsky)

A strange triangle of light will glow in the sky during late twilight in the southwest this month —, but it will only be visible in inky black, moonless skies, and only during the second half of February.

Zodiacal light, often called "false dusk," is a phenomenon caused by sunlight scattering off interplanetary dust particles within the solar system. These dust particles, comprising remnants from the formation of planets and debris from comets, orbit the sun in the same plane as the planets.

The light's triangular shape appears in the belt of constellations known as the zodiac, according to the European Southern Observatory. These constellations are found along the ecliptic, the eastward apparent path that the sun traces across Earth's sky, according to Space.com.

Although it's long been thought that zodiacal light is caused by dust particles brought into the inner solar system by asteroids and comets, scientists using data from NASA's Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft claimed in 2020 that some of that dust originates from Mars. The researchers suggested that Mars sheds dust into space, which is then influenced by Jupiter's gravity and dispersed throughout the inner solar system.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/space/planets/a-strange-triangle-will-appear-in-the-zodiac-this-month-how-to-see-rare-zodiacal-light-before-it-disappears