Editing Zodiacal light (section)

== Cultural significance ==
According to [[Alexander von Humboldt]]'s ''[[Kosmos (Humboldt)|Kosmos]]'', Mesoamericans were aware of the zodiacal light before 1500.<ref name="ley196104">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Ley
 |first=Willy
 |date=April 1961
 |title=The Puzzle Called Gegenschein
 |department=For Your Information
 |url=https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_v19n04_1961-04#page/n37/mode/1up 
 |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction
 |pages=74–84
}}</ref> It was perhaps first reported in print by [[Joshua Childrey]] in 1661. The phenomenon was investigated by the astronomer [[Giovanni Domenico Cassini]] in 1683. According to some sources, he explained it by dust particles around the Sun.<ref>{{cite book|author=Petrus Matheus Marie Jenniskens|title=Meteor Showers and Their Parent Comets|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QpajMuyXG8AC&pg=PA531|date=14 September 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-85349-1|page=531}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fechtig |first1=H. |last2=Leinert |first2=Ch. |last3=Berg |first3=O. |title=Interplanetary Dust |chapter=Historical Perspectives |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-56428-4_1 |series=Astronomy and Astrophysics Library |year=2001 |pages=1–55 |publisher=Springer Link |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-56428-4_1 |isbn=978-3-642-62647-0 |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref> Other sources state that it was first explained this way by [[Nicolas Fatio de Duillier]], in 1684,<ref>{{cite book|author=Steven J. Dick|title=Discovery and Classification in Astronomy: Controversy and Consensus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IT8oAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA350|date=31 August 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-03361-0|page=350}}</ref> whom Cassini advised to study the zodiacal light.{{r|ley196104}}

=== Importance to Islam ===
The [[Islam]]ic prophet [[Muhammad]] described zodiacal light in reference to the timing of the [[salat|five daily prayers]], calling it the "false dawn" ({{lang|ar|الفجر الكاذب}} ''{{transliteration|ar|al-fajr al-kādhib}}''). Muslim oral tradition preserves numerous sayings, or [[hadith]], in which Muhammad describes the difference between the light of false dawn, appearing in the sky long after sunset, and the light of the first band of horizontal light at sunrise, the "true dawn" ({{lang|ar|الفجر الصادق}} ''{{transliteration|ar|al-fajr al-sādiq}}''). According to the vast majority of Muslim scholars, [[navigation twilight]] is considered the true dawn. Practitioners of Islam use Muhammad's descriptions of zodiacal light to avoid errors in determining the timing of fasting and daily prayers.<ref>[https://sunnah.com/muslim/13/52 Sahih Muslim 1094c – The Book of Fasting – Sunnah.com – Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcNtDwAAQBAJ&q=false+dawn+hadith+by+prophet+Muhammad&pg=PA258 |title = Sahih Moslim (The Authentic Hadiths of Muslim) 1-4 Vol 2: صحيح مسلم 1/4 &#91;عربي/إنكليزي&#93; ج2|date = January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://sunnahonline.com/library/fiqh-and-sunnah/732-distinguishing-the-true-dawn-from-the-false-dawn | title = Distinguishing the True Dawn from the False Dawn (sunnahonline.com)}}</ref>

=== Brian May ===
In 2007, [[Brian May]], lead guitarist with the band [[Queen (band)|Queen]], completed his [[thesis]], ''A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud'', thirty-six years after abandoning it to pursue a career in music.<ref>{{cite book|last1=May|first1=Brian|title=A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud|url=https://www.springer.com/gb/book/9780387777054|year=2007|publisher=[[Springer Nature]]|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-77706-1|bibcode=2007asor.book.....M|hdl=10044/1/1333|isbn=978-0-387-77705-4|accessdate=27 May 2017}}</ref> He was able to submit it only because of the minimal amount of research on the topic undertaken during the intervening years. May described the subject as being one that became "trendy" again in the 2000s.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128935865 Terri Gross interviews Brian May], National Public Radio show [[Fresh Air]]</ref>