A light pillar is a visual phenomenon created by the reflection of light from ice crystals with near horizontal parallel planar surfaces. The light can come from the Sun (usually at or low to the horizon) in which case the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. It can also come from the Moon or from terrestrial sources such as streetlights.

After a cold night the small North Devon villages of Appledore and Instow wake up to an amazing scene as the sun rises over the River Torridge estuary, Devon, UK on October 19, 2018. (Photo by Terry Mathews/Alamy Live News)

A woman steers her stand-up paddle board using an umbrella as a sail at Ladoga lake near the city of Olonets, 300 kilometers (186 miles) north-east of St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, July 22, 2022. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Nigel Cox and Kevin Jay paint with light using fibre optic whips on the beach at Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, United Kingdom on July 25, 2023 with a superhero fighting theme. (Photo by Kevin Jay/Picture Exclusive)

A visitor looks at pictures of French photographer Jacques-Henri Lartigue (1894-1986), on July 1, 2013 during the 44thd annual Rencontres d'Arles photography festival in Arles, southern France. The event runs until September 22. (Photo by Boris Horvat/AFP Photo)

Highly commended, mammals: Gelada after the storm – Marco Gaiotti (Italy). “Gelada baboons are the only monkey species in the world that feed on grasses. They are native to the tableland of Ethiopia. Every morning large family groups wander from their sleeping places in the steep rock face, up to 1,000 metres high, to the feeding grounds at the tablelands. This image clearly depicts their feeding strategy: they pull out bunches of grass, sort the stalks and then lift them to their mouth. This shot was taken towards the end of the rainy season after a heavy storm”. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/2019 GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A spotless GWR (Great Western Railway) locomotive, the “Royal Sovereign” waiting to carry Queen Victoria's coffin. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). 28th January 1901

Class of 2027 plebes climb during the Herndon Monument Climb at the U.S. Naval Academy, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Annapolis, Md. Freshmen, known as Plebes, participate in the climb to celebrate finishing their first year at the academy. The climb was completed in two hours, nineteen minsters and eleven seconds to complete. (Photo by Tom Brenner/AP Photo)