The Belt of Venus or Venus's Girdle is the Victorian-era name for an atmospheric phenomenon seen at sunrise

Sunrise

Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight...

 and sunset

Sunset

Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...

. Shortly after sunset or shortly before sunrise, the observer is, or is very nearly, surrounded by a pinkish glow or antitwilight arch that extends roughly 10°–20° above the horizon. Often, the glow is separated from the horizon by a dark layer, the Earth's shadow

Earth's shadow

The Earth's shadow or Earth shadow are names for the shadow that the Earth itself casts on its atmosphere. This shadow is often visible from the surface of the Earth, as a dark band in the sky near the horizon...

 or "dark segment". The Arch's light rose (pink) color is due to backscattering

Backscatter

In physics, backscatter is the reflection of waves, particles, or signals back to the direction they came from. It is a diffuse reflection due to scattering, as opposed to specular reflection like a mirror...

 of reddened light from the rising or setting Sun

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

. A very similar effect can be seen during a total solar eclipse

Solar eclipse

As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon fully or partially blocks the Sun as viewed from a location on Earth. This can happen only during a new moon, when the Sun and the Moon are in conjunction as seen from Earth. At least...

.

See also

• Golden hour (photography)
  Golden hour (photography)
  In photography, the golden hour is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day,when a specific photographic effect is achieved due to the quality of the light.-Overview:...
  
   or Magic hour
• Anticrepuscular rays
  Anticrepuscular rays
  Anticrepuscular rays are similar to crepuscular rays, but seen opposite the sun in the sky. Anticrepuscular rays are near-parallel, but appear to converge at the antisolar point because of linear perspective. Anticrepuscular rays are most frequently visible near sunrise or sunset. Crepuscular rays...
  
  
• Atmospheric refraction
  Atmospheric refraction
  Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other things like humanelectromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of altitude...
  
  
• Blue hour
  Blue hour
  The blue hour comes from the French expression l'heure bleue, which refers to the period of twilight each morning and evening where there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness...
  
  
• City of the Violet Crown
  City of the Violet Crown
  City of the Violet Crown is a term used to describe different cities:*Athens, Greece*Austin, TexasIt was long believed to have originated in O. Henry's story "Tictocq: The Great French Detective, In Austin", published in his collection of short stories The Rolling Stone published October 27,...
  
  
• Earth's shadow
  Earth's shadow
  The Earth's shadow or Earth shadow are names for the shadow that the Earth itself casts on its atmosphere. This shadow is often visible from the surface of the Earth, as a dark band in the sky near the horizon...