2022 February 8

Aurora and Light Pillars over Norway
* Image Credit & Copyright: Alexandre Correia

Explanation:
Which half of this sky is your favorite? On the left, the night sky is lit up by particles expelled from the Sun that later collided with Earth's upper atmosphere — creating bright auroras. On the right, the night glows with ground lights reflected by millions of tiny ice crystals falling from the sky — creating light pillars. And in the center, the astrophotographer presents your choices. The light pillars are vertical columns because the fluttering ice-crystals are mostly flat to the ground, and their colors are those of the ground lights. The auroras cover the sky and ground in the green hue of glowing oxygen, while their transparency is clear because you can see stars right through them. Distant stars dot the background, including bright stars from the iconic constellation of Orion. The featured image was captured in a single exposure two months ago near Kautokeino, Norway.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220208.html

#space #earth #lightpillars #athmosphere #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

2024 January 25

Jyväskylä in the Sky
* Image Credit & Copyright: Harri Kiiskinen

Explanation:
You might not immediately recognize this street map of a neighborhood in Jyväskylä, Finland, planet Earth. But that's probably because the map was projected into the night sky and captured with an allsky camera on January 16. The temperature recorded on that northern winter night was around minus 20 degrees Celsius. As ice crystals formed in the atmosphere overhead, street lights spilling illumination into the sky above produced visible light pillars, their ethereal appearance due to specular reflections from the fluttering crystals' flat surfaces. Of course, the projected light pillars trace a map of the brightly lit local streets, though reversed right to left in the upward looking camera's view. This light pillar street map was seen to hover for hours in the Jyväskylä night.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=Jyv%C3%A4skyl%C3%A4&zoom=6&minlon=-7.119140625&minlat=46.255846818480315&maxlon=28.037109375000004&maxlat=55.89995614406812#map=14/62.24083/25.74946
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/
https://atoptics.co.uk/blog/light-pillars/

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240125.html

#space #earth #lightpillars #athmosphere #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Halo (optical phenomenon)

A halo (from Ancient Greek ἅλως (hálōs) 'threshing floor, disk') is an optical phenomenon produced by light (typically from the Sun or Moon) interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. Halos can have many forms, ranging from colored or white rings to arcs and spots in the sky. Many of these appear near the Sun or Moon, but others occur elsewhere or even in the opposite part of the sky. Among the best known halo types are the circular halo (properly called the 22° halo), light pillars, and sun dogs, but many others occur; some are fairly common while others are extremely rare.

The ice crystals responsible for halos are typically suspended in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds in the upper troposphere (5–10 km (3.1–6.2 mi)), but in cold weather they can also float near the ground, in which case they are referred to as diamond dust. The particular shape and orientation of the crystals are responsible for the type of halo observed. Light is reflected and refracted by the ice crystals and may split into colors because of dispersion. The crystals behave like prisms and mirrors, refracting and reflecting light between their faces, sending shafts of light in particular directions.

Atmospheric optical phenomena like halos were part of weather lore, which was an empirical means of weather forecasting before meteorology was developed. They often do indicate that rain will fall within the next 24 hours, since the cirrostratus clouds that cause them can signify an approaching frontal system.

Other common types of optical phenomena involving water droplets rather than ice crystals include the glory and the rainbow.

While Aristotle had mentioned halos and parhelia in antiquity, the first European descriptions of complex displays were those of Christoph Scheiner in Rome (c. 1630), Johannes Hevelius in Danzig (1661), and Tobias Lowitz in St Petersburg (1790). Chinese observers had recorded these for centuries, the first reference being a section of the "Official History of the Chin Dynasty" (Chin Shu) in 637, on the "Ten Haloes", giving technical terms for 26 solar halo phenomena.
[...]
Among the best-known halos is the 22° halo, often just called "halo", which appears as a large ring around the Sun or Moon with a radius of about 22° (roughly the width of an outstretched hand at arm's length). The ice crystals that cause the 22° halo are oriented semi-randomly in the atmosphere, in contrast to the horizontal orientation required for some other halos such as sun dogs and light pillars. As a result of the optical properties of the ice crystals involved, no light is reflected towards the inside of the ring, leaving the sky noticeably darker than the sky around it, and giving it the impression of a "hole in the sky". The 22° halo is not to be confused with the corona, which is a different optical phenomenon caused by water droplets rather than ice crystals, and which has the appearance of a multicolored disk rather than a ring.

Other halos can form at 46° to the Sun, or at the horizon, or around the zenith, and can appear as full halos or incomplete arcs.

A Bottlinger's ring is a rare type of halo that is elliptical instead of circular. It has a small diameter, which makes it very difficult to see in the Sun's glare and more likely to be noticed around the dimmer subsun, often seen from mountain tops or airplanes.
[...]

CREDIT
Contributors to Wikimedia projects

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(optical_phenomenon)

#space #earth #lightpillars #athmosphere #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

2021 February 17

Sun Pillar with Upper Tangent Arc
* Image Credit & Copyright: Mike Cohea

Explanation:
This was not a typical sun pillar. Just after sunrise two weeks ago in Providence, Rhode Island, USA, a photographer, looking out his window, was suddenly awestruck. The astonishment was caused by a sun pillar that fanned out at the top. Sun pillars, singular columns of light going up from the Sun, are themselves rare to see, and are known to be caused by sunlight reflecting from wobbling, hexagon-shaped ice-disks falling through Earth's atmosphere. Separately, upper tangent arcs are known to be caused by sunlight refracting through falling hexagon-shaped ice-tubes. Finding a sun pillar connected to an upper tangent arc is extraordinary, and, initially, took some analysis to figure out what was going on. A leading theory is that this sun pillar was also created, in a complex and unusual way, by falling ice tubes. Few might believe that such a rare phenomenon was seen again if it wasn't for the quick thinking of the photographer -- and the camera on his nearby smartphone.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210217.html

#space #earth #lightpillars #athmosphere #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tangent arc

Tangent arcs are a type of halo, an atmospheric optical phenomenon, which appears above and below the observed Sun or Moon, tangent to the 22° halo. To produce these arcs, rod-shaped hexagonal ice crystals need to have their long axis aligned horizontally.

The shape of an upper tangent arc varies with the elevation of the Sun; while the Sun is low (less than 29–32°) it appears as an arc over the observed Sun forming a sharp angle. As the Sun is seen to rise above the Earth's horizon, the curved wings of the arc lower towards the 22° halo while gradually becoming longer. As the Sun rises over 29–32°, the upper tangent arc unites with the lower tangent arc to form the circumscribed halo.

The lower tangent arc is rarely observable, appearing under and tangent to a 22° halo centred on the Sun. Just like upper tangent arcs, the shape of a lower arc is dependent on the altitude of the Sun. As the Sun is observed slipping over Earth's horizon the lower tangent arc forms a sharp, wing-shaped angle below the Sun. As the Sun rises over Earth's horizon, the arc first folds upon itself and then takes the shape of a wide arc. As the Sun reaches 29-32° over the horizon, it finally begins to widen and merge with the upper tangent arc to form the circumscribed halo.

Since by definition, the Sun elevation must exceed 22° above the horizon, most observations are from elevated observation points such as mountains and planes.

Both the upper and lower tangent arc form when hexagonal rod-shaped ice crystals in cirrus clouds have their long axis oriented horizontally. Each crystal can have its long axis oriented in a different horizontal direction, and can rotate around the long axis. Such a crystal configuration also produces other halos, including 22° halos and sun dogs; a predominant horizontal orientation is required to produce a crisp upper tangent arc. Like all colored halos, tangent arcs grade from red towards the Sun (i.e., downwards) to blue away from it, because red light is refracted less strongly than blue light.

CREDIT
Contributors to Wikimedia projects

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangent_arc

#space #earth #athmosphere #lightpillars #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

2025 February 24

Light Pillar over Erupting Etna
* Image Credit & Copyright: Davide Caliò
https://www.instagram.com/calio.davide/

Explanation:
Can a lava flow extend into the sky? No, but light from the lava flow can. One effect is something quite unusual -- a volcanic light pillar. More typically, light pillars are caused by sunlight and so appear as a bright column that extends upward above a rising or setting Sun. Alternatively, other light pillars -- some quite colorful -- have been recorded above street and house lights. This light pillar, though, was illuminated by the red light emitted by the glowing magma of an erupting volcano. The volcano is Italy's Mount Etna, and the featured image was captured with a single shot during an early morning in mid-February. Freezing temperatures above the volcano's lava flow created ice-crystals either in the air above the volcano or in condensed water vapor expelled by Mount Etna. These ice crystals -- mostly flat toward the ground but fluttering -- then reflected away light from the volcano's caldera.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250224.html

#space #earth #lightpillars #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

2021 November 15

Light Pillar over Volcanic Etna
* Image Credit & Copyright: Giancarlo Tinè
https://www.giancarlotine.it/biografia-ed-esperienze-fotografiche-giancarlo-tine/

Explanation:
What happening above that volcano? Something very unusual -- a volcanic light pillar. More typically, light pillars are caused by sunlight and so appear as a bright column that extends upward above a rising or setting Sun. Alternatively, other light pillars -- some quite colorful -- have been recorded above street and house lights. This light pillar, though, was illuminated by the red light emitted by the glowing magma of an erupting volcano. The volcano is Italy's Mount Etna, and the featured image was captured with a single shot a few hours after sunset in mid-June. Freezing temperatures above the volcano's ash cloud created ice-crystals either in cirrus clouds high above the volcano -- or in condensed water vapor expelled by Mount Etna. These ice crystals -- mostly flat toward the ground but fluttering -- then reflected away light from the volcano's caldera.

https://www.atoptics.co.uk/blog/light-pillars/
https://www.giancarlotine.it/foto-gallery-etna/

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211115.html

#space #earth #lightpillars #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 compose high-altitude clouds (e.g. cirrostratus or cirrus clouds). If the light comes from the Sun (usually when it is near or even below the horizon), the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. Light pillars can also be caused by the Moon or terrestrial sources, such as streetlights and erupting volcanoes.

Since they are caused by the interaction of light with ice crystals, light pillars belong to the family of halos. The crystals responsible for light pillars usually consist of flat, hexagonal plates, which tend to orient themselves more or less horizontally as they fall through the air. Each flake acts as a tiny mirror which reflects light sources that are appropriately positioned below it (see drawing), and the presence of flakes at a spread of altitudes causes the reflection to be elongated vertically into a column. The larger and more numerous the crystals, the more pronounced this effect becomes. More rarely, column-shaped crystals can cause light pillars as well. In very cold weather, the ice crystals can be suspended near the ground, in which case they are referred to as diamond dust.

Unlike a light beam, a light pillar is not physically located above or below the light source. Its appearance as a vertical line is an optical illusion, resulting from the collective reflection off the ice crystals; but only those that are in the common vertical plane, direct the light rays towards the observer (See drawing). This is similar to viewing a light source on a body of water. Ripples on the surface of the water reflect the light source in many directions, and those that happen to be aimed at the viewer, combine to form a bright line pointing toward the light source.

CREDIT
Contributors to Wikimedia projects

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pillar

#space #earth #lightpillars #astrophotography #photography #NASA #science #physics #nature #education