Mysterious light pillars illuminate Russian winter sky
Residents of Swietogorsk, a city in the Leningrad Oblast, witnessed mysterious lights in the sky at the beginning of January. Although these elongated formations are uncommon, their appearance can be explained scientifically, as highlighted by the Focus service.
Photos of the mysterious light pillars were shared on social media on January 5, according to Focus. They were posted by users, including one named astrophotoboloto, on the Telegram channel. This optical phenomenon, known to science, occurs in the atmosphere.
Mysterious lights over Russia
They appear as vertical columns of light extending above or below the light source. Light pillars occur when natural light, like that from the Sun or Moon, or artificial light, such as from streetlights, reflects off horizontally aligned ice crystals suspended in the air.
Light pillars are typically seen during sunrise or sunset when light is at a low angle. They mainly occur during the cooler parts of the year when ice crystals are present in the atmosphere.
Light pillars are not the only spectacular optical phenomena observable in the Earth's atmosphere. Other occurrences resulting from the interaction of light with atmospheric components such as ice crystals, water droplets, or dust particles include halos—luminous rings around the Sun or Moon—along with more familiar occurrences like rainbows and auroras, and the Brocken spectre, often seen in mountainous regions.
