2003 HS Photo Contest Pictures
2003 High School Photo Contest Winners
Second Place
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Natural Category
I took this picture outside a gas station on the way home from Las Vegas. It is a picture of a Sun pillar. Pillars are rays of light that extend vertically from the sun. They appear in the sky when either snow or ice crystals reflect light forward from a strong source like the sun or moon. The colors that can be seen in the sun pillar are a copy of the colors of the sunlight or the source. Crystals with plate or column shapes provide a horizontal surface from which the light may reflect toward the viewer's eyes. These sun pillars are formed by horizontal plate type crystals. Their lower faces externally and internally reflect light rays. Light that is refracted upwards through the lower face and then reflects back down from the upper face before leaving the crystal through the lower face also produces pillars. Pillars that are at a greater distance than the others require the crystals to be slightly misaligned because the light is either directed upwards or passes through the crystal. Sun pillars can be seen when the sun is low on the horizon or just below it. They usually extend only 5 to 10 degrees of arc directly above the sun's disk. Sun pillars form from artificial lights in the same way, but the closeness of the source to the observer can allow larger pillars to form.
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