2025年8月10日
Zodiacal Road
Image Credit & Copyright: Ruslan Merzlyakov (astrorms)
Explanation: What’s that strange light down the road? Dust orbiting the Sun. At certain times of the year, a band of sun-reflecting dust from the inner Solar System appears prominently just after sunset — or just before sunrise — and is called zodiacal light. Although the origin of this dust is still being researched, a leading hypothesis holds that zodiacal dust originates mostly from faint Jupiter-family comets and slowly spirals into the Sun. Recent analysis of dust emitted by Comet 67P, visited by ESA’s robotic Rosetta spacecraft, bolsters this hypothesis. Pictured when climbing a road up to Teide National Park in the Canary Islands of Spain, a bright triangle of zodiacal light appeared in the distance soon after sunset. Captured on June 21, 2019, the scene includes bright Regulus, the alpha star of the constellation Leo, standing above center toward the left. The Beehive Star Cluster (M44) can be spotted below center, closer to the horizon and also immersed in the zodiacal glow.
Tomorrow’s picture: near to the Sun
道路尽头的黄道光
影像提供与版权: Ruslan Merzlyakov (astrorms)
说明: 道路尽头的怪异辉光是什么？ 是绕行太阳的尘埃。在每年的某些期间，于日落后或日出前，天空会出现一道位于太阳系内围，名为黄道光的醒目光带。虽然这些尘埃从何而来，目前仍是研究的题材，但最可信的假说指出，黄道光主要源自木族彗星释出的尘埃，它们并沿着螺旋路径缓缓的掉向太阳。最近分析欧洲航天局罗塞塔号探测器量测彗星67P释出的尘埃之数据，成果支持这项假说。这幅拍摄于日落后不久的影像，记录了前往西班牙 加那利群岛 泰德国家公园的途中，出现在道路尽头后方的明亮三角型黄道光。这幅拍摄于2019年6月21日的影像，也记录了视野中左上方的明亮轩辕十四（狮子座的α星）。而沉浸在黄道光中的蜂巢星团（M44 鬼星团），则出现在中下方靠近地平线之处。
明日的图片: near to the Sun
