| Wesley Liikane in Severn Bridge, Ontario captured these light pillars on December 23, 2013. These crystals drift through the atmosphere with a horizontal orientation, gently rocking from side to side as they fall. Thanks, Chris! Sun pillars or light pillars are formed by reflection from hexagonal plate-like ice crystals in Earth’s air. This one is from Chris Levitan Photography. Another shot of the beautiful sun pillar seen on March 20, 2016, from the U.S. Photo by Lyle Evans in Highland, California. West Coast got an amazing sun pillar on the first evening of spring 2016. Tabb and Dawn Tabb caught this amazing sun pillar at sunset on May 10, 2016. “As I was photographing, I noticed the sun pillar.” Joe C. Notice the sun pillar! Kathryn said she literally ran outside to get images before having to leave for work. December 7, 2018, sunrise from Independence, Oregon, via Kathryn M. Light pillars do appear frequently over Niagara Falls, especially during the winter.Īs always, the great website Atmospheric Optics is a wonderful place to go and learn more about sun pillars. They can sometimes look strange! There are said to be a lot of UFO reports caused by light pillars over Niagara Falls, where the mist from the rush of descending water interacts with the city’s many upward facing spotlights. These pillars of light often prompt people to report sightings of UFOs. But the moon or even streetlights can create this light phenomenon, too, in which case the name light pillar is more appropriate. They’re called sun pillars when the sun helps make them. Fire Island, New York.” Wow! Thanks, Michael. Michael Busch captured this pair of photos on December 12, 2018, and wrote: “Incredible sun pillar above and then below the sun. Light pillars can be seen at any time of night.
You might even see a sun pillar when the sun is below the horizon. When is the best time to see a sun pillar or light pillar? You’ll most often see sun pillars when the sun is low in the western sky before sunset, or low in the east just after the breaking of dawn. They are falling through Earth’s atmosphere, rocking slightly from side to side. The ice crystals have roughly horizontal faces. Sun pillars or light pillars form when sunlight (or another bright light source) reflects off the surfaces of millions of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds – for example, cirrostratus clouds. | Nancy Ricigliano at Jones Beach, New York, caught this sun pillar on March 3, 2019. Easily the most perfect example of a sun pillar I’ve ever witnessed.” Thank you, Nicholas! View at EarthSky Community Photos. The sun pillar extended even above the clouds. As the fog rolled over the ridge behind me, sunlight (from below the horizon) began illuminating the cold air and created a beautiful sun pillar. He wrote: “The first cold front of the season dropped temps into the teens (a bit below zero degrees C) along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
| Nicholas Holshouser captured this photo from the Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 412 in North Carolina, in the early morning of December 1, 2020. Stand strong.” Beautiful! Thank you, Susan. I frequently photograph sunrises and was awestruck by this rare sun pillar and am reminded that there is a pathway to the heavens and we are all connected through the beauty of the sun. I took it in honor of all the people who are grieving a loss of someone special. She wrote: “This image was taken at sunrise. | Susan Ogan in Marblehead, Massachusetts, captured this photo of a sun pillar on December 30, 2020. She explained that she has “never seen a sun pillar!.” Thank you Penelope! View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Penelope Parson from Brooklin, Maine, captured this photo of a solar pillar on January 8, 2021, just after sunset. Going fast! View at EarthSky Community Photos. They’re also the source of some UFO reports!ĮarthSky lunar calendars are cool! Order now. They might lengthen or brighten as you gaze at them. They can be 5 to 10 degrees tall and sometimes even higher. Sun pillars are beams of light that extend vertically upward (or downward) from a bright light source, such as the sun or another bright light low on the horizon. | Raul Cortes in Oslo, Norway, captured this photo of a sun pillar during a sunset over Oslo, on January 14, 2021.