NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Many Midstate residents witnessed an unusual and dazzling display during Saturday night’s sunset, and that spectacular event has a name: sun pillars.
Sun pillars are beams of light that appear to shoot vertically from the horizon. They form when three specific atmospheric conditions come together: cold air, high cirrus clouds and a low sun angle near sunrise or sunset.
Cirrus clouds are made up of very small ice crystals. As these crystals fall, they tend to align horizontally within the clouds and act like tiny mirrors, reflecting sunlight into a bright beam that appears to extend upward from the horizon (and sometimes downward as well).
The physics that create sun pillars aren’t limited to sunlight.
Under the right conditions, moonlight can produce moon pillars, and even bright streetlights can appear to create similar pillar-like effects…