APOD: 2026 September 19 – A Zodiacal Night
APOD
APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Night SkyAnnotation
A Zodiacal Night
Explanation: Also known as the false dawn, a luminous band of zodiacal light is captured in this dark night skyscape. The serene view was recorded just before the beginning of astronomical twilight during September's star party at the remote Hanle Dark Sky Reserve, Ladakh, India, planet Earth. At about 4,500 meters altitude, the dark sky reserve presents a haven for hardy stargazing and astrophotography enthusiasts. While meteors streak through the night, bright planet Jupiter appears immersed in the faint zodiacal glow near the eastern horizon. Follow the zodiacal band toward the zenith to find open star cluster M44 and a yellowish tinged planet Mars near the center of the frame. In fact, serendipitous detections of interplanetary dust by NASA's Juno spacecraft suggest Mars itself is the source of dust that back scatters sunlight and creates zodiacal light in planet Earth's night.APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apodTomorrow's picture: only sunny days
Date
September 19, 2026
Credit & Copyright:
Neelam and Ajay Talwar (TWAN)
Authors & editors:
Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of:
ASD at NASA / GSFC,NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
Random APOD Generator
Yesterday's Image
APOD: 2026 September 18 – Messier 33: The Triangulum Galaxy
Tomorrow's Image
APOD: 2026 September 20 – Analemma over the Callanish Stones
Source: https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-september-19-a-zodiacal-night/
