NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 19, 2026, featured a night skyscape showing a luminous band of zodiacal light, also called the false dawn. According to the accompanying explanation, the view was recorded just before astronomical twilight began during September's star party at the remote Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in Ladakh, India, at an altitude of about 4,500 meters.

The image shows bright planet Jupiter within the faint zodiacal glow near the eastern horizon, with meteors streaking through the night sky. Following the zodiacal band toward the zenith leads to open star cluster M44 and a yellowish planet Mars near the center of the frame. The explanation notes that serendipitous detections of interplanetary dust by NASA's Juno spacecraft suggest Mars is the source of dust that backscatters sunlight and creates zodiacal light in Earth's night sky. The image was credited to Neelam and Ajay Talwar of TWAN.