Zodiacal light

[jambouk]

This interesting image on the title pages of an old book I've got hold of (dated 1913) shows the Western Zodiacal Light; but what is the cause of the presumed artefact of the stars in the image?

James

[Knight of Clear Skies]

Interesting find. It looks almost like zoom creep, but I'd guess it's probably coma from a fast but poorly corrected lens. There are a few more details here but it's cut off at the first three pages, it mentions an f2 lens. I had a quick go at imaging Orion at f1.4 with a 50mm lens once (30 second exposure with Ha filter), the shapes of the corner stars were quite extreme. It makes a nice thumbnail image though.

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

I agree with Knight of the Clear Skies that it looks more like an optical problem with the lens rather than an effect in the sky itself.

A pleasant little video by ESO in Chile on zodiacal lights can be found at:

Historically Nicolas Fatio de Duillier (1664 - 1753), one of the first people to investigate zodiacal lights, is quite an interesting character, and ended up living in England. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Fatio_de_Duillier

Other irrelevant trivia: Brian May, better known to many as a member of the band Queen, completed his PhD on zodiacal lights submitting it for approval 36 years after he started it!

And Hester Periam Hawkins, the author of James' book, also wrote the words to several turgid Victorian/Edwardian hymns - so maybe there's a musical connection to an interest in zodiacal lights?