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Space & Astronomy

News producer photographs 'sun pillar'

By T.K. Randall
January 20, 2011 · Comment icon 12 comments

Image Credit: NOAA
Kim Insley noticed the phenomenon in a picture of a sunrise taken by producer Bea Chang.
A 'sun pillar' is a streak of light extending vertically above or below the sun, an optical illusion formed by the reflection of light by ice crystals in the Earth's atmosphere. The resulting kaleidoscopic effect in the sky can be quite breathtaking.
The light pillar looks like thin columns that that are sometimes extend vertically below or above the source of light. The Light Pillars are prominently visible when the sun is low or lies below the horizon.


Source: MSNBC | Comments (12)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #3 Posted by Kitana2010 14 years ago
Yea.. common. I'm in the midwest and I've seen this happen while camping. Pretty, but idk if its news worthy.
Comment icon #4 Posted by dazdillinjah 14 years ago
In scandinavia you see this very often. Thats a cool picture of the effect Bigfoot Buster ...I was looking at the picture in the link thinking ??? it just looks like the Sun after seeing your picture I understand ty
Comment icon #5 Posted by toma 14 years ago
I've captured a cool effect, I think it is called halo, a couple of days ago. To bad I did'nt have my camera with me so I used my iphone. If u want to see some pics: http://gallery.me.com/toma.pop#100183
Comment icon #6 Posted by Tim.C Melbourne 14 years ago
Yes kind of cool but not extremely newsworthy.
Comment icon #7 Posted by UFO_Monster 14 years ago
A sun pillar is depicted on one of my grandmother's paintings. Before reading this article, I thought it was just a casually pretty scene; if it's something dangerous, yet beautiful, that is ideal!
Comment icon #8 Posted by VampireHeart 14 years ago
I've seen this many times, since I always watch the sunset. Very beautiful.
Comment icon #9 Posted by trancelikestate 14 years ago
I've seen similar with oncoming car headlights. First time I seen it i was very confused. At a distance it looked like there was a beam of light following the car. For a split second "ufo" popped in my mind, haha, until it got closer and I noticed it was the headlights and the same was occurring with the cars that came after.
Comment icon #10 Posted by jaguarsky 14 years ago
Many years ago, I took some sunset pics with one of those cheap little disposable cameras. When the film was developed one pic was really different. Right in the middle, where the setting sun was there was a cross of light and right in the middle of that (unseen at the time) was a telephone pole which surprisingly had not been washed out by the brightness. The effect was that of the Christian symbol of the cross in firey light with the "real" cross itself in the middle. It did not mean much to me as I am not Christian, but it was a really cool picture and I have never had one come out even nea... [More]
Comment icon #11 Posted by StarChild 83 14 years ago
pretty
Comment icon #12 Posted by Kazahel 14 years ago
Yes very pretty. I saw a cool thing today. My son and I saw this only patch of god rays coming through the clouds which made the shape of an angel. I wished I'd had my camera because it wouldve made a great photo.


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