Reference Director!

I’ve read Eric Linday’s Gegenschein for many years. It seemed safe to assume that Eric, like nearly all fanzine editors, named his zine for something of interest to fans, maybe a character or place found in a science fiction or fantasy story, as the Coulsons did with Yandro.

I’d forgotten that I didn’t know the meaning of Eric’s title. Then today I read an article about Zodiacal Light, and it suddenly jumped off the page at me:

Also difficult to see, though actually perhaps a trifle brighter than the Zodiacal Band, is the “counterglow” or Gegenschein. This is a very faint oval patch of light about 10 to 20 degrees long and 6 to 8 degrees wide (overall, comparable in size to the Great Square of Pegasus) and situated exactly on the ecliptic at that point diametrically opposite to the Sun in the sky. If the Sun has just dipped below the western horizon, for example, the counterglow would be just above the eastern horizon.

Where zines get their names would be a fertile topic for a Corflu trivia contest.

One thought on “Reference Director!

  1. Ha! I’ll mention this idea to Mr. Hooper, who is doing the program for the next Corflu.

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