Darlene Tanner captured this photo on the morning of January 29, 2019. Besides the bright, orange-colored vertical light pillar, you can see a moon pillar extending between the ground and the moon. Plus there’s a lunar halo, with the two prominent moon dogs on either side of the moon. Both the halo and light pillars are caused by ice crystals drifting in the air.
Plus, the moon is sliding past three planets in the dawn sky this week, and Darlene caught two of them, Venus and Jupiter. The picture caption explains which is which.
And look at the top of the photo! There’s even a meteor. Wow!
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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