Zodiacal Light

Here is a note (March 31, 2021) from Andrew Fazekas in National Geographic's "The Night Skies" coverage:

"The Ghostly Zodiacal Light: Tonight and for the next two weeks, keen-eyed skywatchers across northern latitudes get a chance to witness the ghostly glow of the zodiacal lights for about one to two hours after dusk in the western sky. This pyramid-shaped beam of light (pictured above from Chile in 2009) is easily mistaken for the lights of a far-off city. For many centuries, observers have been fooled into thinking the zodiacal light is either the last vestige of evening twilight or the first hints of morning twilight, depending on the time of year it appears. It was believed to have been caused by sunlight hitting the very top of Earth’s atmosphere. But it turns out this light is much more ethereal, resulting from sunlight reflecting off the countless dust particles floating in space. All these dust particles are leftovers from the birth of the planets about 4.5 billion years ago. The best chances to catch this light phenomenon will come in the dark countryside... " And the photo:


My first attempts were all failure, shot on 3-12-21 though.
One of the original:

HDR processed:


So wonder if anyone has done this before or is interested to give it a try soon? Appreciate your sharing of experience, opinions, ideas, and comments.

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I am thinking you need darker skies to image it, especially if there is sky glow from the city on the horizon washing it out. I don't know if you were too early as far as the date, but all of the images I have seen show dark skies with stars, so maybe you need to shoot a little later after the sun sets.
I am curious now. I have mountains in my way, but I might be able to drive out to the coast or out towards the desert.
Thanks for posting this.

Originally Posted by Dawg Pics

I am thinking you need darker skies to image it, especially if there is sky glow from the city on the horizon washing it out. I don't know if you were too early as far as the date, but all of the images I have seen show dark skies with stars, so maybe you need to shoot a little later after the sun sets.
I am curious now. I have mountains in my way, but I might be able to drive out to the coast or out towards the desert.
Thanks for posting this.

Thanks. Maybe the place (San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, an outskirt area from town) isn't the ideal true dark area, but surely much better than inside the city. To the west view, almost no city light can be seen. All lights in the photos taken were the remnant of sunset. I stay there at the spot well before and after sunset taking continuous shots and trying to see the Z light. Sadly none was eye-visible. The latest shot at the night was taken well after sunset and still no show except stars:
Original:


Processed:


Wish you luck to view the wonderful light and catch it!

(I have deleted the bunny photo, but don't know why it still show below)

The stars are nice, even if you didn't catch the Zodiacal Light. I don't know how much transparency and seeing affect something like that or how variable the visibility is from year to year or by location. I hope you can catch it and tell me how to do it.
I might take a drive tonight and see if I can catch a dark enough place with a horizon.

Congratations.
I could faintly see it in the processed image you posted the other day, but I wasn't sure if that was it. I had cloud cover, but I am going to look for a dark pot soon. I broke my wide angle lens, but I am going to give it a try.

I hope your knee heals quickly.