Phenomenon appears in Kansas morning sky

TOPEKA - An early morning atmospheric phenomenon known as a "sun pillar" was visible in the eastern sky on Monday morning. If you happen to be up early enough these pillars of light make for a visually amazing start to the day.

Sun pillars form when the necessary atmospheric conditions come together at just the right time. They can be seen at sunrise or sunset with cloud cover helping accent the beam of light. For this phenomenon to occur, the sunlight must have hundreds of thousands of ice crystals to reflect off of.

Usually high based cirrus clouds are a perfect source of these ice crystals as they retain a much higher ice content with subfreezing temperatures. The crystals are hexagonal in shape and allow the sunlight to reflect off of their flat, icy surfaces as they drift through the atmosphere.

Another closely related atmospheric optic called 'light pillars' offer sky watchers a chance to see these pillars of light during any time of the day - not just sunrise or sunset. The main difference is that light pillars can use any source of light to reflect off of, whereas sun pillars utilize sunlight. This means that sources such as street lights can create this same effect. Ice crystals must still be present in both situations though.