Celestial

Zodiacal Light - Death Valley - California

Artist: Brian Morganti

The mysterious Zodiacal light is caused by the Earth passing through fine particles of remnant meteor dust and and this reflected pillar of light becomes visible from dark sky locations on two occasions each year. The first occurs during the hour or two after sunset each March, and the second during the pre-dawn hours each October. I happened to be in Death Valley during March of 2010 when I spotted this glorious pillar of light after sunset. I had never seen it before, but I knew instantly what this strange pillar of light represented. The photo was taken from Jubilee Pass with my Canon 5D MII mounted with a Canon 15mm f2.8 fisheye lens -- ISO2500 which still required a 30 second exposure to bring out the details. This image was once featured in the Sky & Telescope magazine Reader's Gallery Section.

030810ZodiacalLightDeath ValleyMorgantiLenticular CloudsStarry SkyJubilee Pass