The image below shows gegenschein in the night sky over The Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. Gegenschein is an optical phenomena associated with dust in the plane of the planets. It is a faint spot of light in the sky opposite that of the sun. The spectrum of the light coming from that part of the sky is the same as the spectrum of sunlight, therefore confirming that the light is indeed being reflected off of dust grains in the solar system. Gegenschein is fainter than the milky way so in order to see it, it must be completely dark- no moon or street lights or nearby planets. The dust particles are millimeter-sized splinters that are stored in comets and later ejected. These dust particles originated in the early days of our Solar System. They are mostly composed of glass, carbon, and various minerals.
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