Categories: AstrophotosEarthObserving

Astrophoto: The Belt of Venus

This pink-ish glowing arch across the sky at sunset is what is known as the "Belt of Venus." This panorama is made from 5 shots, without a tripod, taken on Oct. 25, 2013. Credit and copyright: John Chumack.

Did you know you can sometimes see Earth’s shadow right here on Earth? This beautiful panorama by John Chumack is a perfect example of this phenomenon, known as the “Belt of Venus.” This beautiful pinkish glow is caused by the backscattering of sunlight and is sometimes referred to as the anti-twilight arch. What you are seeing is the shadow of the Earth’s translucent atmosphere, casting a shadow back upon itself.

“So yes, you can see part of the Earth’s shadow other than during a lunar eclipse,” said John, via email. “I shot this from Indian Lake, Ohio a favorite fishing spot! It is a panorama made from 5 separate shots to show the entire belt of Venus, and the Earth’s shadow (dark area) arching above the horizon.”

John used a simple point and shoot Canon SX 160 IS, hand held for all 5 shots with 30% overlap for the panorama, so no tripod, which is pretty impressive!

“I was fishing and Venus’s Belt was the only thing I caught that evening!” said John.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/