Sundog
Wednesday, December 3rd 2014
Yesterday, a parhelion or sundog was seen in the sky as we made our way back to the Field Centre for lunch. Parhelia are halo phenomena created when light interacts with ice crystals in the atmosphere. They typically appear as one or two bright and coloured patches of light 22⁰ from the sun and at the same elevation.
The sundog can be seen in the left of the sun in this photograph with the halo arcing above it in the sky.
They can be seen throughout the world at any time of year but are more common when the sun is low in the sky.
(2) Comments:
Tim Randall responded on 4th Dec 2014 with...
An excellent sighting and photograph. I wonder if any other parts of the potential display were seen. This website is an excellent source of information about this and other sky displays - http://www.atoptics.co.uk
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Chris Meek responded on 3rd Dec 2014 with...
Thanks for explaining this phenomenon. I’ve often seen this but never known what it was!