Ethereal thing on the other side of the sunset that you know nothing about: Odd Oregon Coast Science

Published on 11-06-24 at 05:25
By Andre’ Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Lincoln City, Oregon) – From the beaches of Washington to Oregon to the Midwest to Europe to the deserts of Africa and everywhere in between, there’s something else brewing at sunset that you might want to look for. Often it is something subtle, but it is only found on crystal clear days when you can see the opposite direction of sunrise or sunset.

According to OMSI astronomy expert Jim Todd in Portland, this is something you’re more likely to see now, thanks to the clear days in June. All you really need is a good vantage point where nothing blocks your view to the east of the sunset. What you will probably see is a darker band of color on the opposite horizon. Sometimes it is a brighter pink or orange, but often it looks more like a calm purple shade.

This is called the Belt of Venus and has always been there. You’ve probably mistaken it for clouds on the other side of the sky.

“On the next clear evening, look for what is called the Belt of Venus – named after the Roman goddess of love, and offers breathtaking views,” Todd told Oregon Coast Beach Connection years ago. He recently reiterated the warning as Oregon and Washington are currently heading into better weather.

People go to the beach all the time to see the sunset, but never think to look back at the land.

You’re essentially seeing the shadow of the Earth. As the sun sinks below the horizon, it casts that shadow more and more upward. It turns out that what you’re seeing is quite big – as big as the planet we’re on.

It starts to appear about 30 to 60 minutes after sunset, essentially the famous blue hour.

The dark shadow at the top is covered by varied bands of color, often pink or purple, which Todd explains are caused by red sunlight being scattered back into the atmosphere.

Oregon Coast Beach Connection has captured this several times along the coast, such as the above shot in Manzanita. However, this happened unconsciously, because we only became aware of the phenomenon around 2021. When we went back into the photo archives, numerous older photos were discovered.

Another example is above in Lincoln City, overlooking the Siletz River. The moon is bright by this time and the exposure required was about ten to twenty seconds.

In these photos from OMSI’s Todd, Justine Lacio captured the phenomenon while looking east from Mount Hood.

The second shot shows that dogs don’t really care about the strange mix of weather and astronomy.

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