Tuesday, 5 May 2026

Supreme light pillars ('city maps') - 2026.5.3, AnQing, China.

 Between 23:00 and 24:00 (UTC+8) on May 3, LIU Qian Yu(刘乾煜) captured a supreme light pillars event occurring within high-level clouds(or falling virga in middle-level) in Anqing City, Anhui Province, China. The clarity of the observed 'mirrored city streets' map' is very very distinct and remarkable. JIA Hao and I consider this record to be among the most outstanding documentations of such phenomena worldwide. 



BGR+USM


As an experienced astrophotographer and member of the Chinese ice halo community, LIU promptly switched to an circular fisheye lens, thereby capturing a full view of this sky wonder. A meteorological chart corresponding to approximately three hours offset from the time of photographic observation is attached, with our appreciation extended to QIAN Kun for supplying this chart. 


Song Xi Pei contributed to the comparative works between LIU's image and maps.



I used Google Maps and Tencent Maps respectively to compare with the perspective transformed image.