This golden candle on the western horizon is a sun pillar. It is a beam of light reaching up from the Sun after it has set. The light is glinting off the undersides of countless tumbling ice crystals in a blanket of the mid-level cloud Altocumulus that was spotted over Devils Lake, Oregon, US by Rick Sorensen (Member 1,434).
We wish a Happy Christmas to all our members who celebrate it, from everyone at the Cloud Appreciation Society.