A panoramic light emitter of an omnidirectional horizontal light beam with very sharp cut-off in the vertical plane is disclosed. The sharp cut-off prevents interference near airports. High average powers are attainable because the light source can be distributed rather than be a point source. The omnidirectional-in-the-horizontal-plane light emitter with a high degree of vertical beam control is achieved by combining a generally cylindrical refractor with an internally emitting open-ended generally conical light source. The internal emitting surface of the conical light source is in the focal plane of the cylindrical refractor. The refractor sharply images the source with its edges, and that image is projected panoramically as the light beam having sharp cut-off at the edges of the image. The external surface of the conical light source does not emit, thus preventing undesired angles of light from passing out through the refractor. The light source disclosed is made up of a circular lamp illuminating the interior surface of a conical section in a reflector, although other light sources yielding the above characteristics are also suitable.