Today's Word

Yesterday's Word

Archives

FAQ

Discuss
Email this
Feedback
RSS/XML
Permalink

A.Word.A.Day--gegenschein

This week's theme: words borrowed from German.

gegenschein (GAY-guhn-shyn) noun

A faint oval patch of light directly opposite the sun in the night sky, caused by reflection of sunlight by dust particles. Also known as counterglow.

[From German Gegenschein, from gegen (against) + Schein (glow).]

Pictures of gegenschein: https://swisseduc.ch/stromboli/volcano/photoastro/gegenschein-en.html

See more usage examples of gegenschein in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

-Anu Garg (garg AT wordsmith.org)

"Orbiting Gemini astronauts carried out photographic experiments designed by Dr. Ney in 1965 to explain enigmatic phenomena like gegenschein and zodiacal light, faint glows found even in the darkest night sky." Wolfgang Saxon; Edward P. Ney, 75; Searched the Skies for Cosmic Particles; The New York Times; Aug 12, 1996.

X-Bonus