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Re: (meteorobs) Re: Zodiacal light
>Also, don't forget about the moon's libration clouds, accumulations of
>particles that gather at specific points in it's orbit. I learned about the
>l.c. in the book "Astrophotography for the Amateur". A concerted web-search
>to learn more about them, and even view an image, turned up very little.
>
>Anyone have any experience here? What causes them?
Hey, Joshua: I've NEVER heard of anyone observing these "Lagrange clouds"
visually... I think as you say though, they have been photographed. They are
caused by the collection of debris and dust (manmade and celestial) at two of
the "Lagrange points" in the Earth-Moon system: these points, labeled "L1"
through "L5", are spots in space where small objects can remain "suspended" by
gravity, without orbital motion relative to the Earth or moon. My memory is
weak, but I think the two mentioned in Lodriguss's book are L2 and L3, and they
precede and follow the moon by 60 degrees along its apparent path in the sky.
These two spots also have a special long, hard-to-remember name of their own.
Anyone recall what this name is: I believe it's the name of an astronomer.
(NOTE that the Earth-Sun system has similar Lagrange points: there was a league
of people at one point who advocated building permanent human colonies at the
"L5" point of this system... The group's name? The "L5 Society"! :)
Clear skies!
Lew
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