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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Столбы света над Внутренней Монголией http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1922164/eng |
Credit & Copyright: N. D. Liao
Explanation:
What's happening across that field?
Pictured here are not
auroras but nearby
light pillars,
a phenomenon typically much closer.
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.
The featured image was taken last month across the
Wulan Butong Grasslands in
Inner Mongolia,
China.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.