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Zodiacal Light

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

The zodiacal light is a faint veil of light covering the Earth’s sky. Brighter towards the Sun and the ecliptic, it originates in solar light scattered by a cloud of dust particles, mostly of cometary and asteroidal origin. The increase of brightness, toward the Sun and the near-ecliptic region, indicates an increase in the space density of the interplanetary dust cloud, which has a lenticular shape around the Sun; a slight brightness enhancement toward the antisolar region (gegenschein) corresponds to a backscattering effect. Thermal emission from the zodiacal particles forms, away from the galactic plane, the most prominent component in the near-infrared sky.

History

Although some hints are suspected in ancient texts, Childrey (1661) possibly gave the first description of the zodiacal light. Cassini (1683) provided a detailed interpretation, with the zodiacal light originating in a flattened cloud that scatters better the light when the line of sight gets closer to the...

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References and Further Reading

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UPMC Univ. Paris 6/LATMOS-IPSL, BC102, 4 Place Jussieu, 75005, Paris, France

    Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd

Authors
  1. Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd
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Correspondence to Anny-Chantal Levasseur-Regourd .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Levasseur-Regourd, AC. (2014). Zodiacal Light. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1706-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1706-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Zodiacal Light
    Published:
    07 April 2023

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1706-3

  2. Original

    Zodiacal Light
    Published:
    30 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1706-2

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