Shadow of the Earth and Belt of Venus

The Earth shadow is strongly visible in the background sky of this beautiful spring field from Campinho village in Alqueva region of Portugal. It is the shadow that the Earth itself casts on its atmosphere, visible in the opposite half of the sky to the sunset or sunrise, and is seen right above the horizon as a dark blue band. Immediately above, where the evening air is still lit, glows a pink band called the anti-twilight arch, also known as “Belt of Venus”, and is caused by backscattering of refracted sunlight due to fine dust particles high in the atmosphere. © Miguel Claro