Summer Solstice Sun Pillar

July 21, 2014

2014 06 June 21 Summer Solstice Sunset 01a 5s hh z nn1

Photographer: Doug Farmer
Summary Authors: Doug Farmer; Jim Foster
 
As the longest day of 2014 (in the Northern Hemisphere) came to a gentle close, an eye-catching solar pillar illuminated the sky over English Bay in Vancouver, British Columbia. Pillars can appear as spots or patches, as shown above, depending upon the position of the cloud containing the ice crystals that cause them. On the day of the summer solstice, this pillar marked Vancouver's northern-most setting point of the Sun. Sunset was at 9:21. Note that at this latitude, twilight lasts most of the night.
 
Polytope Peak, at 5,207 ft (1,587 m), is at left center. To its right is the more distant Tetrahedron Peak, at 5,705 ft (1,739 m) -- conveniently pointed to by the solar pillar. Photo taken from downtown Vancouver, facing northwest, on June 21, 2014.
 
Photo details: Camera Model: NIKON D300; Lens: 18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6; Focal Length: 65mm (35mm equivalent: 97mm); Aperture: f/8.0; Exposure Time: 0.0031 s (1/320); ISO equiv: 200; Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.5 (Windows).