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gegenschein

 
American Heritage Dictionary:

ge·gen·schein

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(gā'gən-shīn') pronunciation
n.
A faint glowing spot in the sky, exactly opposite the position of the sun. Also called counterglow.

[German : gegen, against (from Middle High German , from Old High German gegin) + Schein, light (from Middle High German schīn , from Old High German scīn , from scīnan, to shine).]


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Wiley Book of Astronomy:

gegenschein

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A faint round or oval spot of light, about 20°across, in the midnight sky near the ecliptic and opposite the Sun, best seen under clear, dark conditions in September and October; also called the counterglow (its meaning in German).
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

gegenschein

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Oval patch of faint light exactly opposite the Sun in the night sky, so faint it can be seen only in the absence of moonlight, away from city lights, with the eyes adapted to darkness. It is lost in the light of the Milky Way except in February, March, April, August, September, and October. The gegenschein and the zodiacal light form the most notable parts of a band of very faint light along the ecliptic. Both phenomena are thought to be the result of the reflection of sunlight from interplanetary dust grains.

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Columbia Encyclopedia:

gegenschein

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gegenschein (gā'gənshīn') or counterglow, a slight brightening of the night sky in the region of the zodiac directly opposite the sun, i.e., 180° from the sun. Discovered by the Danish astronomer Theodor Brersen in 1854, its nature and cause are still unknown. It may be caused by reflection of sunlight by small dust particles that lie in the plane of the solar system. It is possible that these particles are part of a tail of the earth, extending away from the sun like the tail of a comet. The gegenschein is one of several sky glows, as is the zodiacal light.

Word Tutor:

counterglow

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - A faint spot of light in the night sky that appears directly opposite the position of the sun.

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Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary:

gegenschein

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  See crossword solutions for the clue Counterglow.
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Gegenschein

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The gegenschein in a fish-eye view of the night sky above the Paranal Observatory.

The gegenschein (German pronunciation: [ˈɡeːɡənʃaɪn] German for "countershine") is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point.

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Explanation

Like the zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight reflected by interplanetary dust. Most of this dust is orbiting the Sun in about the ecliptic plane, with a possible concentration of particles at the L2 Earth–Sun Lagrangian point.[1]

It is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles. It forms a slightly more luminous, oval glow directly opposite the Sun within the band of luminous zodiacal light. The intensity of the gegenschein is (relatively) enhanced because each dust particle is seen in full phase.[2]

History

The gegenschein was first described by the French Jesuit astronomer and professor Esprit Pézenas (1692–1776) in 1730.[3] Further observations were made by the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt during his South American journey from 1799 to 1803.[3] It was also Humboldt who gave the phenomenon its German name Gegenschein.[3]

The Danish astronomer Theodor Brorsen published the first thorough investigations of the gegenschein in 1854. He was also the first to observe that the zodiacal light can embrace the complete sky, because under near-perfect conditions a feeble light bridge connecting the zodiacal light and the gegenschein can be observed.[citation needed] Besides, Brorsen had already proposed the correct explanation for the gegenschein (interplanetary dust reflections).

In modern times the gegenschein is not visible in most inhabited regions of the world due to light pollution.

See also

References

  1. ^ Kopal, Zdeněk (June 14 1962). "Communications on the Moon". New Scientist (291): 573. 
  2. ^ Levasseur-Regourd, Anny-Chantal; Hiroichi Hasegawa (1991). Origin and Evolution of Interplanetary Dust. International Astronomical Union Colloquium. p. 159. ISBN 0-7923-1365-8. 
  3. ^ a b c Sheehan, William (1995). The immortal fire within: the life and work of Edward Emerson Barnard. Cambridge University Press. pp. 69–70. ISBN 0-521-44489-6. 

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Related topics:
zodiacal light (in astronomy)
Antisolar point
Afterglow

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American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wiley Book of Astronomy. Copyright © 2004 by Wiley-Blackwell. Wiley and the Wiley logo are registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
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Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Gegenschein.  Read more

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