I guess the circle is a #gegenschein?

#wordoftheday #dictionary #wordnerd #edutainment @spejampar.bsky.social

On the Chajnantor plateau in Chile, home of the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA), the sky is so dark that the famous and extremely difficult to observe gegenschein (or "countershine") is sometimes visible. This is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the ecliptic directly opposite the Sun, caused by reflection of sunlight by interplanetary dust in the Solar System.

On 8 June 1918, amateur astronomer Alice Grace Cook spotted a “strange star, twinkling violently and changing colours rapidly.” Why was this so remarkable? Read on. By Kate Moore & Bill Barton FRAS
#Astronomy #Gegenschein #NovaAquilae

eastangliabylines.co.uk/science/how-...

Landscape photography of the Milky way and gegenschein from Zabriskie Point, Death Valley

Zabriskie Point ~11:30pm, 3.19.2025

10x2mins

The bright streak of light on the right is the "gegenschein", sunlight reflected off space dust that's on the plane of the ecliptic of the solar system

#landscapeastrophotography #astrophotography #milkyway #deathvalleynationalpark #gegenschein

A breathtaking panoramic view of the night sky over Deadvlei, Namibia. The image showcases a full moon eclipsed by Earth's shadow, the faint gegenschein, a green airglow, Sirius, the Milky Way, Magellanic Clouds, and numerous red emission nebulas. A lone figure stands in the foreground, silhouetted against the stunning celestial display. The scene is set against the stark beauty of the Namib Desert landscape.

Astronomy Picture from 14/10/2015

A Gegenschein Lunar Eclipse

Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap151014.html


#astrophotography #nightsky #milkyway #gegenschein #Namibia #Deadvlei #astronomy #stars #fullmoon #lunarEclipse #MagellanicClouds #Sirius #airglow #darkSky