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The photon belt (photon ring, manasic ring, or golden nebula) is a fringe belief largely linked to some parts of the new age movement that a belt or ring of photons is going to, depending on the source of the information, fully envelope the Earth in 2011 and possibly cause massive failure of electrical equipment with 2-3 days of total darkness or total daylight, and/or initiate a spiritual transition (usually referred to as "a shift in consciousness", "the shift of the ages", or just "the shift", with the time period leading up to the shift as "the quickening"; it has also been referred to as "zero point" and ties in to various prophecies, the Mayan calendar, extraterrestrial life, etc).
The core of the photon belt beliefs is that a an immense belt of photons exists, and orbits around the Pleiades, a star cluster some 440 light years away from Earth, composed of some 500 stars. According to some New Age beliefs, Earth will pass though this belt, resulting in either Humanity's elevation to a higher plain of existence or the end of the world. Essene and Nidel write that it represents a temporary window for spiritual transition during which time humans can reach a higher point of existence.[1]"

The photon belt is reportedly a band of intense photon light that is near Earth at this time. A photon is a quantum of light, or the smallest possible packet of light at a given wavelength. It is emitted by an atom during a transition from one energy state to another.