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Credit & Copyright: Harri Kiiskinen
Explanation:
You might not immediately recognize this street map of
a
neighborhood in Jyvöskylö, Finland,
planet Earth.
But that's probably because the map was projected into the night sky and
captured with an allsky camera on January 16.
The temperature recorded on that northern winter night
was around minus 20 degrees Celsius.
As ice crystals formed in the atmosphere overhead,
street lights spilling illumination into the sky above produced
visible light pillars,
their ethereal appearance due to
specular reflections
from the fluttering crystals' flat surfaces.
Of course, the projected light pillars trace a map of the
brightly lit local streets, though
reversed
right to left in the upward looking camera's view.
This light pillar street map was seen to hover for hours in
the Jyvöskylö
night.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: ice crystals
Publications with words: ice crystals
See also: