# Lights pointing straight up into the icy sky? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802 "2003-11-23T04:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/1 "2003-11-23T04:43:13Z")
Last night the streetlights were all beaming straight up! They shone\* light in all directions, of course, but each had a single strong beam that was going straight to the sky. I’ve never seen this before in my life. It was really beautiful and surreal. It was -25 Celsius last night, and there were clouds of icy fog hanging around. That would have something to do with it, but why would they shine straight up? Does anyone have any explanations or theories? Thank you very, very much in advance.🙂 \*Is shone the past tense of shine? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/2 "2003-11-23T05:06:28Z")
You probably saw a local variation on a [sun pillar](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?sun+pillar). It’s not that the streetlamps produced a strong vertical beam of light, but that hexagonal plates of ice strongly reflected whatever light the lamps emitted along a vertical axis directly to your eye. Here’s a bit of discussion of optical effects around [streetlamps in the cold.](http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg17142.html) ---
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/3 "2003-11-29T19:23:10Z")
I took pictures, and they turned out quite well! If anyone would like to see them, please E-mail me at [bigforwardsforjen@jenniger.com](mailto:bigforwardsforjen@jenniger.com) ---
**Author:** ![Indefatigable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9d8465/32.png) [@Indefatigable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indefatigable)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/4 "2003-11-29T20:28:49Z")
Some streetlamps do shine light upwards-- it’s a poor design because it wastes energy, but it’s always easier to see where the light goes when there’s ice or fog or something in the air to be illuminated by it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/5 "2003-11-29T21:39:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thylacinewas taken \* > I took pictures, and they turned out quite well! Send them to the folks at [Earth Science Picture of the Day](http://epod.usra.edu/) (EPOD). Maybe they’ll post them, and you’ll achieve 15min. to 24h of fame! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2003, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/6 "2003-11-29T22:03:18Z")
15 minutes to 24 hours… sounds good to me!😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/7 "2003-12-06T18:22:55Z")
Hello Squink, I haven’t figured out fhow to send private messages… I ought to look into that. I sent my pictures to EPOD and yesterday got an E-mail saying they’d post them in the next several weeks! Yay!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/8 "2003-12-06T18:40:33Z")
Yay! That is cool! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/9 "2003-12-06T18:43:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Thylacinewas taken \* > \*\*\*Is shone the past tense of shine? \*\* Yes. ---
**Author:** ![bbeaty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bbeaty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbeaty)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2003, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/10 "2003-12-07T09:11:12Z")
I’ve seen those before during quiet winter nights in Rochester, NY. One bit of trivia: tiny plate-like ice crystals tend not to tumble as they fall; instead they lie horizontally. Individual snowflakes do the same. It’s as if the sky were full of billions of tiny horizontal mirrors. Another effect produced by this phenomenon: the “[subsun.](http://www.google.com/search?q=subsun+%2Bice)” Sometimes when looking out of an airplane window you’ll see the reflection of the sun on bodies of water peeking from beneath a cloud layer… yet you’re flying over mountains and desert, and there are no bodies of water there. It’s those billions of horizontal ice crystals again. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/11 "2003-12-31T14:01:28Z")
Wow **Thylacinewas taken**! That’s a [beautiful photo](http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=170240) of your pillar over at EPOD. A perfect choice for new years eve. ---
**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/12 "2003-12-31T17:47:04Z")
Thanks for telling me about EPOD! I’m really honoured that they’d use me on New Year’s Eve!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GopherGod72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@GopherGod72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GopherGod72)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lights-pointing-straight-up-into-the-icy-sky/214802/13 "2003-12-31T17:59:04Z")
wow… thats damn cool!