A blog or at least the newsletter I try to read every day comes from Earth & Sky, many of you may know from NPR. Their daily look up into the stars, planets, constellations and other astronomical happenings are a little guide, of what I may expect during the night hours.
Today's newsletter featured the atmospheric phenomenon of a sun pillar (light pillar), who form when the sunlight is reflected from millions of drifting hexagonal ice crystals are in the air. These pillars may reach upwards or downwards normally with a low sitting sun at dawn or dusk and may reach 5 to 10 or even more degrees up or down.
If the light stems from other sources like the moon or streetlights they are called light pillars - you may have seen them, especially in winter night landscape photography.
The website Atmospheric Optics also taught me the difference between rays and pillars; rays are normally visible when the sunlight is scattered because of dust, aerosols or moisture droplets.
Sources: amu communications photo, Atmospheric Optics, Earth & Sky
The photo on top is available for commercial use through Dispatch Press Images.
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