January 25th, 2013

A Sundog is a phenomenon that occurs when sunlight is scattered through ice crystals in wispy clouds.  Sometimes you get a halo around the sun, or a couple of lines of light shooting up on either side of the sun. 

This is what www.atopics.co.uk has to say on the subject…

“Sundogs, sometimes called Sun Dogs, Parhelia or Mock Suns, are with the 22º halo, the most frequent of the ice halos. They are most easily seen when the sun is low. Look about 22° (outstretched hand at arm’s length) to its left and right and at the same height. When the sun is higher, they are further away. Each ‘dog’ is red coloured towards the sun and sometimes has greens and blues beyond. Sundogs can be blindingly bright, at other times they are a mere coloured smudge on the sky. They are visible all over the world and at any time of year regardless of the ground level temperature. In Europe and North America one will be seen on average twice a week if searched for.”

Here is a picture I took at Laurel Creek on Tuesday. The sun was just rising, and it was about -17 Celsius.