Zodiacal light captured at Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in India

A luminous band of zodiacal light, often referred to as the ‘false dawn’, was captured at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in Ladakh, India. The image was recorded at an altitude of approximately 4,500 meters just before the start of astronomical twilight.

The celestial view features the planet Jupiter immersed in the zodiacal glow near the eastern horizon, alongside the open star cluster M44 and the planet Mars near the center of the frame. Zodiacal light is caused by sunlight backscattering off interplanetary dust orbiting the Sun. While research is ongoing, a leading hypothesis suggests this dust primarily originates from Jupiter-family comets, though data from NASA’s Juno spacecraft suggests Mars may also be a source of the dust.