What is the band of light connecting the ground to the Milky Way? Zodiacal light -- a stream of dust that orbits the Sun in the inner Solar System . It is most easily seen just before sunrise, where it has been called a false dawn , or just after sunset. The origin of zodiacal dust remains a topic of research , but is hypothesized to result from asteroid collisions and comet tails . The featured wide-angle image shows the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy arching across the top, while the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy to our Milky Way , is visible on the far left. The image is a combination of over 30 exposures taken last July near La Serena among the mountains of Chile . During the next two months, zodiacal light can appear quite prominent in northern skies just after sunset.
Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
Media Credits & Attribution
Image Credit & Copyright: [Roman Ponča](mailto:ponca . roman at gmail.com) (ht: Masaryk U. )