Constable Pillar
March 14, 2006
Provided by: John A. Adam, Old Dominion University
Summary authors & editors: John A. Adam
The early development of this magnificent upper sun pillar attracted my attention one evening in late November. I took many pictures over a period of half an hour, and watched with fascination as distant flocks of birds wheeled in and out of my line of sight in this direction. Several types of ice crystal can give rise to sunpillars, though most common are those formed by plate-like crystals. This pillar was created by rays reflected downwards from the lowerfaces of crystals with large tilts (the larger the tilts the taller is the pillar).
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