Did you see the incredible sunrise Monday morning. Many people did and took pictures to post on social media. Would you believe the stunning colors seen Monday morning were caused by ice? It’s called a ‘sun pillar’. They form when the necessary atmospheric conditions come together at just the right time. For this phenomenon to occur, the sunlight must have hundreds of thousands of ice crystals to reflect off of. That morning, usually high based cirrus clouds created a perfect source of these ice crystals as they retained a much higher ice content with subfreezing temperatures. The crystals are hexagonal in shape and allow the sunlight to reflect off of their flat, icy surfaces as they drift through the atmosphere.
Another closely related atmospheric optic called ‘light pillars’ offer sky watchers a chance to see these pillars of light during any time of the day– not just sunrise or sunset. The main difference is that ‘light pillars’ can use any source of light to reflect off of; whereas ‘sun pillars’ utilize sunlight. This means that sources such as street lights can create this same effect. I hope you were able to see it; if not, you can find a lot of pictures of it on social media.
