Dubai: Move over Aurora Borealis. Here’s another atmospheric spectacle that will take your breath away: pillars of lights. Residents of Central Alberta, Canada, were treated to a rare dazzling spectacle on a cold winter night recently.
Ryota Suyama woke up at around 4am Tuesday to see what looked like an alien invasion had taken over the town of Canmore, a town in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary.
“It was kind of surreal,” Suyama told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “We’ve seen, you know, northern lights a couple of times, but we had never seen light pillars before.… It almost felt like it was happening right in front of us, so it was definitely astounding.”
Columns of light emanating from the ground shot up the sky, creating a breathtaking spectacle, reports said. Social media has been filled with ethereal images of the natural phenomenon that occurs in winter.
The glowing light pillars are a stunning optical illusion shaped by unique winter conditions. The phenomenon occurs when tiny, hexagonal ice crystals, typically around 0.02 mm in size, are suspended in the atmosphere. These flat, plate-shaped crystals act like millions of miniature mirrors, reflecting light from streetlights, building illuminations or other ground-based sources. When the light reflects off the crystals, it creates vertical beams that appear to stretch into the sky, resulting in a dazzling visual display.
Light pillars are a well-documented phenomenon, seen mostly in regions with extremely cold climates, with temperatures ranging from -10°C to -40°C. The display requires a perfect combination of still, windless conditions, high humidity, and an abundance of atmospheric ice crystals.
Regions like Canada, Russia, and Scandinavia provide ideal conditions for light pillars, making them a common yet awe-inspiring sight during cold winter nights. For the residents of Central Alberta, the -30°C temperatures provided the perfect stage for this extraordinary display of nature’s beauty.
