Belt of Venus
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The Belt of Venus (also called Venus's Girdle, the antitwilight arch, or antitwilight, which it also reflects.
In a way, the Belt of Venus is actually alpenglow visible near the horizon during twilight, above the antisolar point. Like alpenglow, the backscatter of reddened sunlight also creates the Belt of Venus. Though unlike alpenglow, the sunlight scattered by fine particulates that cause the rosy arch of the Belt shines high in the atmosphere and lasts for a while after sunset or before sunrise.[2]
As twilight progresses, the arch is separated from the horizon by the dark band of
The Belt of Venus can be observed as having a vivider pink color during the winter months, as opposed to the summer months, when it appears faded and dim above the yellowish-orange band near the horizon.[citation needed]
The name of the phenomenon alludes to the cestus, a girdle or breast-band, of the Ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite, customarily equated with the Roman goddess Venus. Since the greatest elongation (angular separation between the Sun and a Solar System body) of Venus is only 45–48°, the inferior planet never appears in the opposite of the Sun's direction (180° difference in ecliptic longitude) from Earth and is thus never located in the Belt of Venus.
See also
References
- ^ "Definition of ANTITWILIGHT". www.merriam-webster.com.
- ISSN 1431-9756.
- Cowley, Les. "Belt of Venus". Atmospheric Optics. Les Cowley. Retrieved 2018-08-01.
- Naylor, John (2002). Out of the blue : a 24-hour skywatcher's guide. Cambridge: ISBN 0-521-80925-8.
External links
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Belt of Venus over the Valley of the Moon (23 July 2006)
- NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Belt of Venus Over Mercedes, Argentina (scroll to right of image for best view) (7 February 2012)
- Shadow of Earth, Belt of Venus as seen over Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, displayed in an interactive panorama. Scroll to the very bottom of the post to view, after all other Yosemite panoramas.