zodiacal light

Zodiacal Light: an Old Problem and New Hypotheses
A.V.Byalko
Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, RAS (Moscow, Russia)
Zodiacal light is a white luminous cone that is easily observed in the west a few hours after the sunset or in the east until dawn. The spectrum of the zodiacal light gives an evidence of its origin from the reflected radiation of the Sun, although it is not known exactly where the scattering objects are located. Analysis of the dynamics of fragments of the Moon formation shows the possibility of capturing a part of the fragments by stable Lagrange points. In this paper, by solving the three-body problem, it is shown that these stability regions are much wider and the bodies captured at the Lagrange points drift along horseshoe-shaped trajectories. The estimated brightness of the sunlight reflected by them is compared with observations. Additionally, a number of related hypotheses have been expressed.
Keywords: zodiacal light, Lagrange points, three-body problem, cosmic dust

Институт теоретической физики имени Л.Д.Ландау РАН (Москва, Россия)
Зодиакальный свет-это белый светящийся конус, легко наблюдаемый на западе через несколько часов после захода солнца или на востоке до рассвета. По спектру зодиакального света ясно, что это отраженное излучение Солнца, хотя точно неизвестно, где именно расположены рассеивающие объекты. В процессе анализа динамики осколков образования Луны была указана возможность захвата части осколков устойчивы ми точками Лагранжа. В данной работе решениями задачи трех тел показано, что эти области устойчивости оказались существенно шире, а те ла, захваченные около точек Лагранжа, далее дрейфуют по подковообразным замкнутым траекториям. Рассчитанная яркость отражаемого ими солнечного света сравнивается с наблюдениями. Дополнительно высказан ряд сопряженных гипотез.
Ключевые слова: зодиакальный свет, точки Лагранжа, задача трех тел, статистика космической пыли.

Cultural anthropologists often use the term axis mundi in a looser sense than the strict astronomical one. This poses a problem, because the objects they identify as "axis mundi" in mythological and early cosmological sources do not correspond to the present state of the axis of the earth. The association of these objects with the axis of the earth does not appear to have been made explicitly and unambiguously before the 1st millennium BCE, probably because the rotation of the earth around its axis was not commonly known in earlier times. By contrast, the mythological phenomenon loosely identified as the axis mundi dates back to the earliest stages of civilisation and is described by the most diverse cultures in remarkably similar terms. It can be explained by reference to a once visible entity in the sky, with a complex, evolving morphology and a possible link to the zenith or the pole. The prototype may have been the zodiacal light or, as recent insights in plasma physics indicate, an enhanced aurora formed in prehistoric times.

Given to Alice A. Bailey in 1943, the unpublished Zodiacal Meditations are, as the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul terms them, magical “formulas of invocation.” Based on the esoteric astrological proposition that the Opposite Sign, Rising Sign and Sun Sign are the three respective 1 st Arms or starting points of the Monadic, Soul and Personality horoscopes, this astrological thesis elaborates upon their construction, meaning and the process of triple superimposition. Its purpose is to help the disciple bring the potencies of his or her Opposite Sign, Rising Sign and Sun Sign into fuller expression and a planned fusion in the spiritual life.