A Sun Pillar in Red and Violet

This image was taken by two amateur photographers that noticed the strange pink column of light during sunset. The two photographed the image near Lake Tahoe in February of 2000. A sun pillar is a vertical shaft of light extending upward or downward from the sun. Typically seen during sunrise or sunset, sun pillars form when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high-level clouds like cirrostratus clouds.