This image, taken in New Mexico just before dawn, shows what is called the Zodiacal light. This light is scattered from particles of solar system dust concentrated in bands in the ecliptic plane (that's the plane that contains Earth's orbit around the sun). -- When this image was captured, the ecliptic was nearly vertical. -- These dust particles orbit the sun. -- To learn more about the image, see Astronomy Picture of the Day: Zodiacal Light.