September 2, 2002
On the day you were born, the universe did what it has always done best: transformed chaos into beauty.
Colorful Light Pillars
Birthday · September 2, 2002
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published September 2, 2002. Credit: Walter Tape (Alaska Fairbanks), Figure 8-1, Atmospheric Halos. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
How can an aurora appear so near the ground? 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. In the above picture, the colorful lights causing the light pillars surround a ice-skating rink in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Image credit: Walter Tape (Alaska Fairbanks), Figure 8-1, Atmospheric Halos