Fuchsia16, you'll have to play around the these steps to get it exactly how you want it but here's what i did:

Duplicate the layer and move it verticaly until it is at the depth you want. (If you have it as part of your background image you will need to remove that first)

Make sure your layer order is correct. It should appear like two disks with the top one fully visible.

Duplicate the layer again (this will be for a blur in the middle)

Use the magic wand to select the outer area, then choose SELECT - INVERSE (shift+ctrl+I ) This should have the shape selected.

Run the Blur filter on this selection by selecting Filter Blur Motion Blur. Change the settings to Angle: -90 degrees Distance: 15 pixels (you can play with these to suit your own tastes) Click OK

In the layer palette change the Opacity to 90% for the blur layer.

Create a blank layer and name it PATH (or whatever you want)

With the PEN tool create a path to join the top and bottom shapes

In the Paths tab select the Work Path and click on the small arrow for the drop-down menu and select Make Selection. In the dialog box adjust the settings to Feather Radius: 2 pixels check the Anti-aliased box and New Selection. Click OK

Change back to the Layer tab and you should have marching ants around the path you made.

Select the Gradient tool and select the Black-to-Transparent set. Mode: Multiply and Opacity: 65%

Click and drag in the direction you want the gradient to go (you may want to practice a little on this step you can always CTRL+Z)

Set the layer named Path to Multiply and you should have it. I would also keep in mind the advice Ken posted while you are doing to gradient blend. You can also add a lighting filter effect or lens flare to kick it up a notch!

Play around with this and you should be all set!

sorry for the file size but this was just quickly tossed together...

:)
retrocity