HI NIGHT OWLS, TRACE HERE - ALMOST A THOUSAND# YEARS AGO, THE PERSIAN POET OMAR KHAYYAM WROTE ABOUT A MYSTERIOUS "FALSE DAWN", WHICH CAN# ONLY BE SEEN DURING THE FALL.

LET’S FIND IT HIT A VERY DARK PLACE TWO HOURS BEFORE# SUNRISE AND LOOK EAST.

THERE’S NO MOON, SO PRECEDING THE SUN WILL BE# A CONE-SHAPED PATCH OF LIGHT EXTENDING FROM THE HORIZON HALF-WAY UP# THE SKY!

THIS KHAYYAM’S ‘FALSE DAWN’ ASTRONOMERS CALL IT ‘ZODIACAL LIGHT’ -# IT’S A HUMONGOUS CLOUD OF COSMIC DUST EXTENDING FROM THE SUN PAST MERCURY AND# VENUS AND SLIGHTLY BEYOND EARTH.

THIS IS THE DUST LEFTOVER FROM THE FORMATION OF# OUR SOLAR SYSTEM - STILL ORBITING THE SUN.

IT’LL BE ROUGHLY THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE# MILKY WAY - SO IF YOU CAN’T SEE THAT, IT MIGHT BE TOO BRIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.

IF SO,# TRY AGAIN!

THE FALSE DAWN APPEARS IN LATE AUGUST AND REACHES MAXIMUM BRIGHTNESS AROUND THE# SEPTEMBER EQUINOX, THEN DIMS UNTIL LATE NOVEMBER.

LOOK OUT FOR JUPITER HERE TOO!

KEEP LOOKIN’ UP!