Question

What is zodiacal dust?

Answer 1

The interplanetary dust cloud, or zodiacal cloud, consists of cosmic dust that pervades the space between planets within planetary systems such as the Solar System. This system of particles has been studied for many years in order to understand its nature, origin, and relationship to larger bodies.

Answer 2

Zodiacal dust is the dust found in our solar system, primarily between the Sun and Jupiter. This dust originates from comets and from asteroid collisions, and can sometimes be seen with the naked eye as a triangular glow above the horizon just before sunrise or after sunset. This glow is called the zodiacal light and is caused by sunlight being scattered off of the various dust particles which travel around the Sun. Each time a comet passes near the Sun, it loses some of its material, contributing to the dust between the planets. When asteroids collide, they also send additional dust into the solar system. How much of the zodiacal dust is due to comets and how much is due to asteroid collisions is not known. Due to the effects of the planets, the disk of dust in our solar system is full of structures such as rings and wakes. Each year the Earth collects about 40,000 tons of interplanetary dust!