zodiacal light
- a luminous tract in the sky, seen in the west after sunset or in the east before sunrise and thought to be the light reflected from a cloud of meteoric matter revolving round the sun.
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Origin of zodiacal light
First recorded in 1725–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
zodiacal light
- a very faint cone of light in the sky, visible in the east just before sunrise and in the west just after sunset. It is probably due to the reflection of sunlight from cosmic dust in the plane of the ecliptic
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
zodiacal light
[zō-dī′ə-kəl]
- A faint hazy cone of light, often visible in the west just after sunset or in the east just before sunrise, and elongated in the direction of the ecliptic on each side of the Sun. It is apparently caused by the reflection of sunlight from meteoric particles in the plane of the ecliptic.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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