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Gegenschein facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Paranal-Gegenschein
Gegenshein as viewed from the Paranal observatory in Chile

The Gegenshein, also called Counterglow, is a very faint light which can be seen in the sky at night. The light can be seen at the point in the sky that is exactly opposite of the Sun. It is very hard to see. The light can only be seen from areas with no other lights (away from cities) and on nights with no moon. This effect is caused by matter spread around that reflect the light from the Sun, and is related to the zodiacal light.


Images for kids

  • Gegenschein above the VLT

    The gegenschein appears in this image as a bright spot on the diagonal band (running top left to lower right) above the Very Large Telescope. (The Andromeda Galaxy and Pleiades are prominent in the lower half of the image.)

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Gegenschein para niños

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