Living in the Foothills we are fortunate to see some pretty spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

However, when was the last time you can recall seeing a beam of sunshine beating down upon you?

Aloysia Werezak was just as surprised as most people were when she saw the sunrise in High River on Thursday Jan. 19th.

Werezak shared her photo on a local social media page with the heading 'Just a beam of beauty this morning'.

It was followed up with a lot of likes and shares along with others sharing their photos of the same thing.

She says she wasn't sure what it was, but it was so beautiful she had to take a photo and share it.

"Thursday I was just taking my kiddo to school, she was actually driving... yeah, was on our way to Highwood [high school] and it was beautiful. The sunrises in High River have been so beautiful lately but this was a beam of light and had to capture it."

Most of us were wondering just what the heck it was when someone hopped on Facebook to explain the phenomenon.

"That's why I posted it online because I had no idea what it was, and some lady commented saying it was a solar pillar. I googled it, it made total sense and yes, it was beautiful."

The sunbeam is usually called either a 'solar pillar' or a 'light pillar'.

It's caused by the reflection of light from ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere. 

They can also be caused by the Moon or even streetlights.