Explanation: What's happening behind those houses? Pictured above are not aurora but nearby light pillars, a local phenomenon that can appear as a distant one. In most places on Earth, a lucky viewer can see a Sun-pillar, a column of light appearing to extend up from the Sun caused by flat fluttering ice-crystals reflecting sunlight from the upper atmosphere. Usually these ice crystals evaporate before reaching the ground. During freezing temperatures, however, flat fluttering ice crystals may form near the ground in a form of light snow, sometimes known as a crystal fog. These ice crystals may then reflect ground lights in columns not unlike a Sun-pillar. While going out to buy cat food, a quick thinking photographer captured the above light pillars extending up from bright parking lot lights in Oulu, Finland.

Free lecture: APOD editor to speak in NYC on Jan. 3

<<  Dekabr'  >> Pn Vt Sr Cht Pt Sb Vs             1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31           1995   1996   1997 1998   1999   2000 2001   2002   2003 2004   2005   2006 2007   2008   2009 2010   2011   2012 2013   2014   2015 2016   2017   2018 2019   2020   2021 2022   2023   2024

Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr'

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: ice crystals - led - atmosfernye yavleniya - otrazhenie Publikacii so slovami: ice crystals - led - atmosfernye yavleniya - otrazhenie
Sm. takzhe: STIV: siyayushaya reka nad Franciei Stolby sveta nad Vnutrennei Mongoliei Yuvyaskulya na nebe Snezhnaya burya 1938 goda v Verhnem Michigane "STIV" i Mlechnyi Put' peresekayutsya nad sel'skoi dorogoi Svechenie neba nad Franciei Raznocvetnoe svechenie atmosfery vokrug Mlechnogo Puti Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>