We saw a good sun pillar last night, although my picture does not spell as well as one from the Web.
a "sun pillar" or "sun pillar" is a vertical shaft of light extending upward from the sun. It appears when the sun is at or below the horizon.
the light in the pillar is reflected on the lower surfaces of ice crystals suspended in the air. These crystals are like tiny hexagonal plates, floating in a horizontal position. Their surfaces planes act as mirrors to reflect sunlight down to the viewer (Left photo by WA Bentley). When such a pillar appears on artificial light at night, it is more generally called " . light pillar "
Detailed explanation (with pictures and diagrams) of Weather Doctor
Sun pillar (more photos) Wikipedia the best book on this kind of topic is: the nature of light and color in the Open Air (Dover Books on Earth Sciences)
