From today until the end of the week, Vietnamese will have the opportunity to admire the clear triangular light blocks on the horizon.
National Geographic claims that residents of the northern hemisphere, including Vietnam, can easily observe the zodiacal light this week.
Mr. Nguyen Duc Phuong, member of the Vietnam Association of Astronomy and Space, said that the zodiac light is the phenomenon of a bright triangular area appearing on the eastern horizon before sunrise or at the ‘western horizon. Just after sunset, a “triangle” of dark light. The closer it is to the sun, the brighter it is.
Because zodiacal light appears near sunset, many people will confuse it with sunset light. This is why it is also known as the “false sunset”.
According to Phuong, “The material that makes up the zodiacal light phenomenon is very small dust particles located in the disk plane of the solar system, including the ‘carcasses’ of comets, scattering and reflecting sunlight.
The Earth and the other celestial bodies in the solar system both revolve around the sun and appear to be in a disc-shaped plane centered on the sun. Thus, from the earth, we will see the projection of this disc as a trail across the sky. Therefore, when the dust particles are scattered or reflected by sunlight, we will have the opportunity to see a faint band of light along the ecliptic, called the ecliptic.
Because the zodiacal lights are quite weak, we can only see them before sunrise and just after sunset.
In the northern hemisphere, zodiacal light is most visible early in the morning before sunrise between mid-August and mid-October, at which time the angle between the ecliptic and the horizon is greatest. . If we want to watch in the twilight, we should observe just after sunset between February and April, night falls fast enough that we can observe easily.
For the southern hemisphere, the situation is opposite to that for the northern hemisphere.
Vietnam is located near the equator, so the ecliptic always appears quite high above the horizon. So we can always see the zodiacal light. However, in order to be able to see it, we must choose a favorable viewing area. These are places away from city lights or industrial areas, the view is not obstructed by tall buildings or mountains. In addition, one can only easily observe moonless nights.
