See an Exquisite 'Sun Pillar' Optical Illusion Glowing in Antarctica

Beam me up, Scotty.

Amanda Kooser
Sept. 23, 2022 12:59 p.m. PT

It's a heartwarming time of year for researchers at the isolated Concordia research station in Antarctica. They've been surrounded by snow and cold and darkness for months, but summer is finally on its way. A stunning photo taken from the station shows a gorgeous optical illusion and encapsulates the brightness of the changing season.

The picture shows an expanse of snow with fencing and other signs of human habitation in the mix. The sun appears to be sending up an orange-yellow beam of light shooting from the horizon into the sky.

On Thursday, the European Space Agency described the phenomenon as a "sun pillar" optical illusion created from sunlight reflecting from tiny ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.

. . .

Concordia residents live in darkness for four months during the winter from May through August. Hannes has been studying the effects of isolation, lack of sunlight and low oxygen on the station crew. That data can be helpful in understanding how astronauts can deal with similar conditions during space exploration.

More:
https://www.cnet.com/science/see-an-exquisite-sun-pillar-optical-illusion-glowing-in-antarctica/

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MID-WINTER LIGHT SHOW IN ANTARCTICA

22 JUNE 2009

- click for image -

https://www.antarctica.gov.au/site/assets/files/22441/4fe5.1600x900.webp

Sun dogs and a sun pillar at Casey Photo: Ian Phillips

Mid-winter is a time of celebration in Antarctica, as expeditioners say goodbye to 24 hours of darkness, or near-darkness, and welcome the gradual return of the sun. Rather than complete and continuous darkness, Australia’s three Antarctic stations experience periods of twilight, where the sun sits just above or below the horizon and which, under the right atmospheric conditions, produces some spectacular light shows.

This mid-winter, expeditioners were treated to displays of sun dogs, sun pillars and solar halos.

Solar halos encircle the sun and are generally caused by the reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals falling through the atmosphere. These crystals can be in cold cirrus clouds located high (5–10km) in the troposphere or, under very cold conditions, close to the surface.

A sun dog, or ‘parhelion’, is a bright circular spot appearing on a solar halo. Often two sun dogs, one on each side of the sun, appear simultaneously. They are also formed by the reflection or refraction of sunlight by small ice crystals in clouds.

More:
https://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2009/mid-winter-light-show-in-antarctica/