(Coordinates: Habahe County, Xinjiang.) Shooting time: 08:00 on December 17, 2023) **Xinjiang weather.
"Cold night lampposts" appeared in many places
Mohe Arctic Village is located in the Daxinganling area of Heilongjiang Province. It is the northernmost town in China and the best viewing point to see the Northern Lights. On the evening of November 16, 2022, the rare "Cold Night Light Pillar" spectacle also appeared in Mohe Arctic Village. The pillars of light are colorful and very dreamy.
China Meteorological Administration.
On the evening of December 6, 2022, in Altay City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the wonder of "cold night lampposts" appeared at 19:15 and dissipated at 19:36 on the same day. Like a series of colorful pillars of light, soaring into the sky. The scene was brilliant and beautiful. Shocking.
China Meteorological Administration.
On the evening of December 2 this year, there was a "cold night lamppost" wonder in Hailar, Inner Mongolia. A pillar of light shoots straight into the night sky, spectacular and dreamy.
What is the legendary "cold night lamppost"?
Look at "Cold Night Lamppost", isn't it very similar to the earth engine in "The Wandering Earth"?
Stills from the movie "The Wandering Earth" and** Xinjiang Meteorology.
"Cold Night Lamppost" is an atmospheric optical phenomenon!This spectacle mostly occurs on winter nights in cold regions, so it is called "cold night lampposts". The meteorological conditions of the "cold night lamppost" are very harsh, so their appearance is very rare.
"Cold night lampposts" is also a phenomenon of "ice halo". Like the "solar halo" and "lunar halo", this phenomenon is caused by ice crystals in the atmosphere reflecting light on the ground. The reason seems simple, but the truth is that the conditions for formation are very picky.
First of all, the temperature in the air must be low enough. Cold weather is one of the conditions for the formation of "cold night lampposts". The colder the weather, the stronger the reflection of the pillar of light.
Secondly, the moisture in the air is relatively large. The abundant water vapor in the air forms hexagonal Xiaoice crystals suspended in the air at low temperatures. These Xiaoice crystals absorb and reflect street lights, neon signs, and advertisements from the ground. The light emitted by searchlights, car lights, etc., refracts light back to the ground like millions of miniature mirrors. Since ice crystals of different heights act as mirrors, the light reflected to different heights is combined into an elongated beam. What the human eye sees is actually a virtual image of the reflected pillar of light, that is, the scene of the pillar of light in the night sky.
Another condition is that there is no wind. If the wind is strong, the structure of the ice crystals will be destroyed, and the conditions for reflection and refraction will be destroyed. All three conditions are indispensable.
The shock and beauty of the "Chill of the Night Light Pillar" can be compared to the aurora, but the aurora can move, but the chill of the night light pillar does not move.
*You can see the "Cold Night Lamppost"?"Cold night lampposts" are usually found at high latitudes and at higher altitudes in some mountainous plateaus. Cold night lampposts have appeared in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Northern Xinjiang, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the southwest.
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