is of Ath, Belgium, snapped this photograph during last week's Leonid meteor shower. According to physicist Les Cowley, the strange lights that Bavais captured so beautifully are urban light pillars. From SpaceWeather.com:
(Cowley) explains:
(Joel Bava) explains: "That night above Ath there was an icy fog full of flat plate crystals. The tiny crystals mirrored the lights of the city beneath into sets of light pillars. The higher the crystals, the closer the reflection glints approached the zenith making the pillars appear to converge overhead: illustration. Why the breaks in the lines of light? There were several layers of ice crystals with gaps between them."
Link (no permalink, view archive of November 28) (Thanks, Paul Saffo!)
