October 24, 2018
Your birthday marks the moment a small planet circling a modest star gained another witness to its wonders.
Light Pillars over Whitefish Bay
Birthday · October 24, 2018
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APOD published October 24, 2018. Credit: Vincent Brady. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What's happening in the sky? Unusual lights appeared last week to hover above Whitefish Bay on the eastern edge of Lake Superior between the USA and Canada. Unsure of the cause, the Michigan-based astrophotographer switched camera lenses -- from fisheye to telephoto -- and soon realized he was seeing light pillars: vertical lines of light over a ground source that reflect from falling ice crystals. As the ground temperature was above freezing, the flat crystals likely melted as they approached the ground, creating a lower end to the vertical light pillars. The red ground lights originated from wind turbines on Ile Parisienne, a Canadian Island visible across the bay.
Image credit: Vincent Brady