Observations and a Model of the Zodiacal Light

Some new observations of the polarized component of the zodiacal light are described, which cover ecliptic longitudes between 30° to 180° from the Sun, and ecliptic latitudes 0 ° to 90°. These observations are compared with a model of the zodiacal cloud, based only on the distribution of the dust particles. Good agreement between the model and the observations is found for a dust density varying as 1/ r in the ecliptic plane ( r being the distance from the Sun). Outside the ecliptic plane the density is found to vary approximately as 1/ r exp (– 2· 5 sin γ ), where γ is the heliocentric ecliptic latitude.