Light pillars phenomenon

The effect is created by the reflection of light from numerous tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere or clouds. Hexagonal plate- and column- shaped ice crystals cause the phenomenon. Unlike the crystals producing sun pillars, those making tall artificial light pillars need not be strongly tilted. The column producing pillars are approximately midway between the eye and the light source.

The higher the crystals in the atmsphere, the taller is the pillar.

When the crystals are very high - or the light sources are .

Learn more about atmospheric phenomena like Sundogs, Halos and Light Pillars that are created by the reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Timothy Joseph Elzinga woke up in the middle of the night to see beams of brightly coloured lights dancing across the sky. But this the moon or even streetlights can create this light phenomenon , too, in which . Consider the visual phenomenon known as light pillars. During very cold weather , the reflection of sunlight or moonlight on ice crystals creates vertical columns of light. Then he looked out the bathroom window.

I saw beams of light , looking like something out of Star Trek or Close Encounters of the Third Kin Elzinga told Mashable on Thursday, . A number of people in Pennsylvania have been treated to an awe-inspiring sight of so-called light pillars seemingly shooting up from the ground all the way up to the horizon and beyond. These are called light pillars and are created by the reflection of light from ice crystals with near horizontal parallel planar surfaces. It can also come from the Moon or from . Timmy Joe Elzinga captured this image of light pillars in northern Ontario on Jan. A number of Russian cities have been treated to an awe-inspiring sight of so- called light pillars seemingly shooting up from the ground all the way up to the horizon and beyond. The Puzzle of Light Pillars Concept:.

The sun pillar phenomenon is usually seen when the sun is low on the horizon or just below it. Aided by extreme col light pillars appear when light bounces off the surface of flat ice crystals floating relatively close to the ground. It looked like the Northern Lights. However, after Elzinga did some research, he found out that the phenomenon was “just” light pillars , which can occur . Conditions must be just right for these stunning lights to form. Light pillars are an optical phenomenon caused when light is refracted by ice . A natural phenomenon creates amazing scenes as pillars of light are formed in the air by tiny ice particles. r and photographer Timmy Joe saw spectacular light pillars on an arctic January night from his northern Ontario home.

He thought they were northern lights until he went to investigate. From the handy website Atmospheric Optics:. Friday when he noticed what looked like colorful auroras dancing in the night sky.