Belt of Venus and Cirrus Vertebratus Cloud
February 07, 2022
Photographer: Wei-Chun Lin
Summary Authors: Wei-Chun Lin; Cadan Cummings
This photo features an optical phenomenon called Belt of Venus that creates a faint blue to pink glow at the anti-solar point in the sky around sunrise or sunset. Amazingly, the blue colored band on the horizon is the Earth’s shadow opposite the sun. Conversely, the pink color is where sunlight is illuminating the Earth's atmosphere because the red spectra incoming light is unequally scattered due to low Sun angle. The picture was taken on November 14, 2021, while standing on Hehuan Mountain in Taiwan. In addition to the Belt of Venus, a fishbone cloud or Cirrus vertebratus also appeared in the sky shortly after an airplane flew by. Fishbone clouds are high altitude clouds that are generated by air disturbances, such as from an airplane.
Photo details: Nikon D850 24mm f/4.5 1/25s