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A light pillar or ice pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in which a vertical beam of light appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the reflection of light from tiny ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere or that comprise high-altitude clouds (e.g. cirrostratus or cirrus clouds). [1]
A light pillar, or sun pillar, appears as a vertical pillar or column of light rising from the Sun near sunset or sunrise, though it can appear below the Sun, particularly if the observer is at a high elevation or altitude. Hexagonal plate- and column-shaped ice crystals cause the phenomenon.
Optical phenomena are any observable events that result from the interaction of light and matter. All optical phenomena coincide with quantum phenomena. [ 1 ] Common optical phenomena are often due to the interaction of light from the Sun or Moon with the atmosphere, clouds, water, dust, and other particulates.
Meteorologist Alex O'Brien explains the science behind how light pillars occur and why they have been appearing in the sky recently. Light Pillars in nighttime sky explained [Video] Skip to main ...
Light pillars show up when ground-level light is refracted through ice crystals in the air. Alien-looking light beams illuminate the sky in rare winter phenomenon Skip to main content
The phenomena [sic] of false suns which sometimes attend or dog the true when seen through the mist (parhelions). In Norfolk a sun-dog is a light spot near the sun, and water-dogs are the light watery clouds; dog here is no doubt the same word as dag , dew or mist as "a little dag of rain" ( Philolog.
While the natural phenomenon is normally seen in countries closer to the Arctic circle, UK stargazers have been treated to the rare sight in recent days, as the northern lights illuminated skies ...
The current hypothesis for why the phenomenon occurs is that sunlight is reflecting off, or refracting through, tiny ice crystals above the crown of a cumulonimbus cloud. These ice crystals are aligned by the strong electric field effects around the cloud, [ 2 ] so the effect may appear as a tall (sometimes curved) streamer, pillar of light, or ...