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A Question About Zodiacal Light

-- Zaffar | September 12, 2021

Question:

Hello,

In Islam, the commencement of morning prayers depend on a particular moment when after the beam of light appears in the east, the light begins to spread on the eastern horizon.
This occurrence is directly related to astronomy, which may be related to zodiacal light.
My question is whether the zodiacal light appears on all places at a particular sun’s depression (in degrees), or is this dependent on location’s latitude.

Thank you. Zaffar

-- Zaffar

Answer:

As the zodiacal light is associated with the Sun’s light scattering off of dust in the plane of our solar system, it appears as a column, brighter at the horizon, and tilted at the angle that the horizon makes with the ecliptic. This location and angle changes throughout the year and is dependent upon the latitude where it is observed.

-- Jeff Mangum

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