Sun Pillar

I was driving home last night, enjoying a spectacular sunset. As it developed, a sun pillar appeared. The pillar seemed to spread from a bright, compact core (visible in the image; the sun was actually below the horizon). It looked like a faint cross for a while (but very different and much smaller than those associated with Sun Dogs). So here's the pic--a lovely interaction between an astronomical object, our sun, and the ice crystals in our atmosphere.