Zodiacal Light–March 2026

With exceptionally clear skies and no Moon it was a good time to capture images of the zodiacal light. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about this astronomical phenomenon.

Zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular, diffuse white glow seen in the night sky that appears to extend up from the vicinity of the Sun along the ecliptic or zodiac. It is best seen just after sunset and before sunrise in spring and autumn when the zodiac is at a steep angle to the horizon. Caused by sunlight scattered by space dust in the zodiacal cloud, it is so faint that either moonlight or light pollution renders it invisible.

Zodiacal light in the western sky with faint reflections in Upper Lake Mary.
Zodiacal light in the western sky with faint reflections in Upper Lake Mary.

The image shows the cone of light extending upward from the western horizon. In the upper portion is the Pleiades star cluster and Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is visible as a faint smudge on the right. The zodiacal light is also faintly reflected in the still waters of Upper Lake Mary near Flagstaff, Arizona.

Unedited version of the previous image showing satellite tracks.Zodiacal light in the western sky with faint reflections in Upper Lake Mary.
Unedited version of the previous image showing satellite tracks. Zodiacal light in the western sky with faint reflections in Upper Lake Mary.
Zodiacal light from 2014--with no satellite tracks.
Zodiacal light from 2014–with no satellite tracks.

But this is an edited image because the original was full of satellite tracks (and a few aircraft tracks). The second image is the unedited version. For comparison, an image of the zodiacal light taken in 2014 (before Starlink) shows no satellite tracks at all.

Nikon D850, Tamron 17–35mm @ 17mm, ƒ/2.8, ISO 800, 10 seconds.