DENVER — Strange beams of light extending into the sky were spotted around the Denver area Thursday night and Friday morning.
They almost looked like science fiction; like a transporter beam to a spaceship, but the science behind these beams is real.
Light pillars, which are sometimes called ice pillars, are responsible for the lines of light spotted shining into the subzero Colorado air. Light pillars are reflections of light off ice crystals.
9NEWS viewers shared photos of the light pillars overnight from Denver, Franktown, and Elizabeth.
“Generating pillars of light requires a specific type of ice crystal, and it’s got to be a pristine ice crystal, meaning it’s just that single crystal not stuck to any of its neighbors,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Paul Schlatter.
Schlatter said the light pillars are very rare and it takes the perfect weather conditions to create the ice crystals needed for this atmospheric optical phenomenon.
Light pillars in Colorado
The hexagonal plate
The shape of the ice crystal is the key. It's called a plate, and it's shaped like a hexagon. They must be light enough to float very slowly down from the sky, or almost be suspended in the air.
This plate is often the framework on which the branches of a dendritic snowflake will build, but if the plates have any branches or any imperfections on them, the pillars will not form.
Temperature
These perfect hexagonal plates usually only form at temperatures right around 8 to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. If the air is any colder or warmer, then the ice crystals may take a different shape.
Winds
The air must be calm in order to allow those plates to drift slowly downward while maintaining a horizontal position. If they collide or tumble in the breeze, the pillars won't form.
Moisture
There has to be some water vapor in the air so the ice crystals will form. If the air is completely bone dry, then no ice.
Optical Illusion
There is not actually a beam of light extending from the source light. That is just the way our eyes interpret it. You also must be at just the right angle to see light pillars. It is mainly light being reflected by the crystals that we are seeing.
“When the light passes through them, to the observer, it makes so all the complicated interactions of all the crystals make it look like a vertical column occurs,” said Schlatter.
MORE WAYS TO GET 9NEWS
Subscribe to our daily 9NEWSLETTER
Download the 9NEWS APP
iTunes: http://on9news.tv/itunes
Google Play: http://on9news.tv/1lWnC5n
ADD THE 9NEWS+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KUSA.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "9news" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.