Watch the sun set from a particularly dark patch of Earth and you may spot a triangle of what scientists call zodiacal light extending from where our star passed below the horizon.
Zodiacal light in Earth's skies is created when sunlight bounces off the dust that fills the solar system, the remains of pulverized asteroids and flurry left by passing comets.
And according to new research by a team of astronomers and high school students based in China, a similar phenomenon occurs in the skies of at least a few potentially habitable exoplanets. The light could be one more clue for scientists seeking to puzzle out what those exotic neighborhoods might look like.
"If we can detect zodiacal light from a distant planet system, then this system likely has components like asteroids and comets, which can't be easily detected directly in other ways," lead author Jian Ge, an astronomer at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in China, said during a news conference held virtually on Jan. 13 by the American Astronomical Society.
"If we can detect zodiacal light from a distant planet system, then this system likely has components like asteroids and comets, which can't be easily detected directly in other ways," lead author Jian Ge, an astronomer at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory in China, said during a news conference held virtually on Jan. 13 by the American Astronomical Society.
Ge had been scheduled to present the research at a meeting organized by the group that was canceled due to COVID-19. TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS, CLICK HERE...
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