Photo #1 (Feb 2012)

ZODIACAL LIGHT AND THE FALSE DAWN

What Is Love?
I have met in the streets
a very poor young man who was in love.
His hat was old, his coat worn,
the water passed through his shoes
and the stars through his soul.
― Victor Hugo

 
Image Credit & Copyright: Nilesh Vayada & Ajay Talwar (TWAN)

Is it dawn or false dawn? During certain times of the year, the horizon near the rising Sun will begin to glow unusually early. This early glow does not originate directly from the Sun, but rather from sunlight reflected by interplanetary dust. Called zodiacal light, the glowing triangle of light may be mistaken, for a while, for a sunrise, and so may be called a false dawn. Pictured above, two false dawns were recorded in time lapse movies each spanning about five hours from the perch of the highest observatory in the world: Mount Saraswati near Hanle, India. At its brightest, the rising zodiacal triangle on the left glows brighter than even the central disk of our Milky Way Galaxy -- visible as the diagonal band moving left to right across the frame.

Can we see the world through starry eyes? Not just our loved ones, but the world itself? If we truly come to love this world of ours, would we not treat it with greater care?
                                        - Dan Benor