Light Pillars over Finland

What's happening behind those houses? Pictured above are not aurora but nearby light pillars , a local phenomenon that can appear as a distant one. In most places on Earth, a lucky viewer can see a Sun-pillar , a column of light appearing to extend up from the Sun caused by flat fluttering ice-crystals reflecting sunlight from the upper atmosphere. Usually these ice crystals evaporate before reaching the ground. During freezing temperatures, however, flat fluttering ice crystals may form near the ground in a form of light snow, sometimes known as a crystal fog. These ice crystals may then reflect ground lights in columns not unlike a Sun-pillar . While going out to buy cat food , a quick thinking photographer captured the above light pillars extending up from bright parking lot lights in Oulu , Finland . Free lecture: APOD editor to speak in NYC on Jan. 3