Note: Thread resurrection. Very old thread - this appears to be
The Return of the Return of the Undead Thread. 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRAKCIPS
Why is the earth always enshrouded in darkness and no light from the sun radiates the space between them, only the surface is illuminated?
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Welcome to BAUT. There isn't much in space around the Earth, so there isn't much to reflect the sun's light. There is some dust, however, and this causes what we call
zodiacal light:
Quote:
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The zodiacal light is produced by sunlight reflecting off dust particles in the solar system known as cosmic dust. Consequently, its spectrum is the same as the solar spectrum. The material producing the zodiacal light is located in a lens-shaped volume of space centered on the sun and extending well out beyond the orbit of Earth. This material is known as the interplanetary dust cloud. Since most of the material is located near the plane of the solar system, the zodiacal light is seen along the ecliptic.
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Since the dust is so thin, the reflected light is very faint, so will only be seen under careful and specific observation conditions, but it is there.