Pillar and Puzzle - The scene on the morning of the 27th from the Met Office of Jersey Airport, Channel Islands. Captured by Frank Le Blancq.
To the left of the church spire there is a broad and faint red column like a second pillar. It could be a diffuse 22 degree halo fragment but it looks too straight for that. 'Pillars' like this are occasionally seen in ice fogs/diamond dust. The like of that was certainly not here (8C at ground level) but another possibility is that remaining Europe-wide volcanic dust acted as nuclei to produce similar ice crystals at high level. We do not understand these tall secondary pillars although for some of them Lowitz type crystals might play a role. |
