Having enjoyed your words of German origin I still have slight misgivings concerning "gegenschein" which I cannot find in any dictionary (Duden, Wahrig, Paul). No native speaker (of those who where not fast enough to avoid me) has ever heard of this word. It might be Austrian (v. "abseil"). Lucky Mr Quinion being on leave you are the obvious victim: The current German word is "Gegenlicht" - Is there the slightest chance of finding out where "gegenschein" is from or when it entered the English language?
Thanks.
Hans-Hermann Diestel