2011/234: Sundog
A sun dog or sundog (scientific name parhelion, plural parhelia, from Greek parēlion, “beside the sun”; also called a mock sun or a phantom sun) is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.
Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.
Very cool! I have to admit, I didn’t know what one was until just recently – I’ve seen them before, just didn’t know what I was looking at!
22. August, 2011 at 07:18
You know, I had never seen one until we moved to Texas? I didn’t know what it was, either, until the weatherman on the news mentioned it one time.
This one was actually in Michigan.
22. August, 2011 at 07:32
Always fun to spot these. When my daughters were young they called them sun-puppies. They were too small to be dogs they would tell me. 🙂
22. August, 2011 at 07:26
“Sun puppies”, that’s cute! 🙂
22. August, 2011 at 07:33
Pretty. I have never heard about sundogs. Learn something new…
Btw congrats on 1500 posts! I just noticed when I checked in today 🙂
22. August, 2011 at 07:51
Thanks, Amy 🙂
22. August, 2011 at 07:52
Neat, I’ve never heard of them before. I feel like I’ve certainly seen them before but never realized what I was looking at.
22. August, 2011 at 08:07
interesting….notsure I’ve ever seen one before.
22. August, 2011 at 08:52
They certainly are quite the odd phenomena aren’t they… I captured a real nice double sundog a couple of years ago which is on my flickr stream… but you don’t see them that often, so real nice you managed to get a shot of one too…
22. August, 2011 at 13:09
Nice captures!
22. August, 2011 at 23:00
And I bet they don’t shed. 😉
24. August, 2011 at 07:51
I had no idea! that is so cool!
25. August, 2011 at 21:30