This giant sun pillar appeared in the sky of Romania on December 3, 2016.
The vertical shaft of light extending upward or downward from the sun changed color, from red to purple, before disappearing just as suddenly as it formed. Ephemeral!
That is magical, almost transcendental! Look at this amazing beam of light linking the sky with the Earth.
Ressembling a beam coming from another dimension, this atmospheric phenomenon is known as ‘sun pillar’.
Such beams oflight are typically seen during sunrise or sunset, when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds. The hexagonal plate-like ice crystals fall with a horizontal orientation, gently rocking from side to side as they fall.
When the sun is low on the horizon, an area of brightness appears in the sky above (and / or below) the sun as sunlight is reflected off the surfaces of these tipped ice crystals.
Resulting in a baffling sky phenomenon.
