text: Clouds Clouds obscure the view of other objects in the sky, though varying thicknesses of cloud cover have differing effects. A very thin cirrus cloud in front of the moon might produce a rainbow-colored ring around the moon. Stars and planets are too small or dim to take on this effect and are instead only dimmed (often to the point of invisibility). Thicker cloud cover obscures celestial objects entirely, making the sky black or reflecting city lights back down. Clouds are often close enough to afford some depth perception, though they are hard to see without moonlight or light pollution.
  Other objects
  On clear dark nights in unpolluted areas, when the Moon appears thin or below the horizon, the Milky Way, a band of what looks like white dust, can be seen.
  The Magellanic Clouds of the southern sky are easily mistaken to be Earth-based clouds (hence the name) but are in fact collections of stars found outside the Milky Way known as dwarf galaxies.
  Zodiacal light is a glow that appears near the points where the Sun rises and sets, and is caused by sunlight interacting with interplanetary dust.
  Gegenschein is a faint bright spot in the night sky centered at the antisolar point, caused by the backscatter of sunlight by interplanetary dust.