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Credit & Copyright: Peter Ward (Barden Ridge Observatory)
Explanation:
From central Australia,
this serene
360 degree panorama follows a clear horizon as
twilight began on May 28.
At left, a bright western sky is still illuminated by
the setting Sun.
But sweeping right, toward a view centered on the
countryside's dominating sandstone
formation called Uluru or
Ayers Rock,
the sky takes on progressively darker hues
and subtle colors.
Behind Uluru is the
shadow
of planet Earth itself,
a dark blue arch rising in the east.
Cast through the dense atmosphere and still close to the horizon,
Earth's long shadow is bounded above by a pinkish
glow or antitwilight arch.
Known as the Belt of Venus,
the lovely color of the antitwilight arch is due to
backscattering of reddened light from the setting Sun.
On that night, a nearly full
Moon also rose above Earth's shadow
in the eastern sky.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day