APOD: Zodiacal Light Vs. Milky Way (2010 Mar 20)

[APOD Robot]

Zodiacal Light Vs. Milky Way

Explanation: Ghostly Zodiacal light, featured near the center of this remarkable panorama, is produced as sunlight is scattered by dust in the Solar System's ecliptic plane. In the weeks surrounding the March equinox (today at 1732 UT) Zodiacal light is more prominent after sunset in the northern hemisphere, and before sunrise in the south, when the ecliptic makes a steep angle with the horzion. In the picture, the narrow triangle of Zodiacal light extends above the western horizon and seems to end at the lovely Pleides star cluster. Arcing above the Pleides are stars and nebulae along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. Recorded on March 10 from Teide National Park on the island of Tenerife, the vista is composed of 4 separate pictures spaning over 180 degrees.

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[biddie67]

Scenes like this are making me seriously consider moving somewhere that I can have a 360 degree horizon instead of my little opening in the trees here ....

[owlice]

...or at least somewhere with dark skies. One can shoot out nearby street lights only so many times as a kid before getting into trouble, and as an adult, one knows better (and a brother is less likely to be willing to lend a hand).

That's one pretty picture!

[Amir]

yes, really pretty.
the picture must have been exposed a rather long time to capture those Nebulas along milky way, but stars haven't move a bit. how so?
one of the answers could be that the camera is on a equatorial mount to track the scene, but the foreground is also stable.

[Watcherman]

Excellent picture. I can even see the tiny notch of the horsehead nebula once I zoom in.

[Case]

I can even see the tiny notch of the horsehead nebula once I zoom in.

Are you sure the 'notch' is really Barnard 33?
I have my doubts that it is possible with this picture.

On the left a zoom of the APOD, on the right a different image at the same scale.

[neufer]

Is that Daniel López, himself, in the picture?

[Tripp]

Only because I proofread as part of my job:

"horzion" should be "horizon".

[Larry M Wood]

This is a great photo, but I noticed that Pleiades is spelled incorrectly. [Pleides is how it is spelled in the article]

[neufer]

Only because I proofread as part of my job:

"horzion" should be "horizon".

<<The horizon (Ancient Greek ὁ ὁρίζων, from ὁρίζειν, "to limit") is the apparent line that separates earth from sky. It is the line that divides all visible directions into two categories: those that intersect the Earth's surface, and those that do not. At many locations, the true horizon is obscured by trees, buildings, mountains, etc., and the resulting intersection of earth and sky is called the visible horizon. When looking at a sea from a shore, the part of the sea closest to the horizon is called the offing.

Offing: 1. The part of the sea that can be seen from the shore and is beyond the anchoring area;
"there was a ship in the offing".

2. The near or foreseeable future; "there was a wedding in the offing".

The straight line of sight distance d in kilometers to the true horizon on earth is approximately
d = sqrt(13h) where h is the height above ground or sea level (in meters) of the eye of the observer.>>

---------------------------------------------
Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest man-made structure ever built, at
828 m., with the highest outdoor observation deck in the world at 442 m.

d = sqrt(13*442) = 76 km.

[Amir]

"spaning" is also misspelled, a "n" should be added right in the middle of word; finding misspelled words in explanations has lately became a new challenge!
anybody wants to answer my question? (Above)

[Arie Melamed-Katz]

The photo description is here. It is written that 4 vertical photos were shot 35 minutes after sunset and combined afterwards. The observer is Daniel himself. The exposure time is not mentioned. I guess that it is approximately 1 minute or less.

[biddie67]

Is the solar system's ecliptic plane at an angle to the Milky Way's ecliptic plane?

[Chris Peterson]

Is the solar system's ecliptic plane at an angle to the Milky Way's ecliptic plane?

Yes, by about 60°.

[Case]

Is the solar system's ecliptic plane at an angle to the Milky Way's ecliptic plane?

The galactic plane is tilted at an angle of 63 degrees to the celestial equator. Since the ecliptic (the path of the Sun on the sky) is inclined at an angle of 23.5 degrees to the celestial equator, the galactic plane and the ecliptic are nearly at right angles (63 + 23.5 = 86.5 degrees), although this is purely coincidental.

[BMAONE23]

Is the solar system's ecliptic plane at an angle to the Milky Way's ecliptic plane?

Yes it is. They differ by about 63deg

[biddie67]

Neat stuff - thanks ....

[Guest]

I can even see the tiny notch of the horsehead nebula once I zoom in.

Are you sure the 'notch' is really Barnard 33?
I have my doubts that it is possible with this picture.

I didn't zoom quite that far Mr. Case. You've blurred the horsehead out and should try a bit less magnification and maybe averted vision too. Remember, over about 60x per inch of aperature is useless.