Pillar Over Cincinnati
December 26, 2004
Provided and copyright by: J. Griffin Murphey
Summary authors & editors: J. Griffin Murphey; Jim Foster
The photo above showing a glorious sunset, accented by a Sun pillar, was taken from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio on November 15, 2004. Pillars result when light is refracted through the underside of hexagonal plate crystals and then reflected off of the upperside before exiting the way it entered, through the underside. These crystals need to be similarly aligned. Since a pillar is primarily a reflection phenomena, its color is the same as that of the Sun and the sky in proximity to the Sun.
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