Interesting photograph Bob! The small vertical bar through the sun could be a known halo-phenomenon (often called "the Pillar"). It ("the Pillar") is frequently observed above and below bright planets such as Venus and Jupiter (through telescope or binoculars), and also above and below bright stars such as Sirius, Canopus, etc...
Note that there's also the "pseudo Aurora" above artificial pointlike lightsources (vertical pillars of reflected light, mostly appearing in the super-cold conditions of the arctic and antarctic parts of the world)(the abundance of horizontally hovering ice-crystals in the lower and upper parts of the atmosphere).
P.S.: see also Les Cowley's site ATMOSPHERIC OPTICS and related links!
Danny Caes.
