Saturday, February 24, 2007

Sundog


If you look closely you can see a halo around the sun. When I took this photo it was quite cold and windy causing ice crystals to get into the air and thus the halo. I am led to believe this is what is known as a sundog. If I am incorrect let me know.

5 comments:

Mom & Dad said...

Great picture, Steve. I have never seen the entire halo, just a bit on either side of the sun.

Mom & Dad said...

So, of course, I went and looked up sun dogs. Sundogs and halos both result from ice crystals in the atmosphere, the difference being in the orientation of the ice crystals. If they lie in a horizontal plane, sundogs are seen. If they are randomly distributed, a halo is formed. Sundogs show up as a pair of brightly coloured spots on either side of the sun and I think I saw them as part of the halo in your photo. So much for sundogs 101.

Anonymous said...

A sun dog it is. We had one here in Arctic Bay a couple days back. Just wish I had brough my camera along with me. Nice picture!

Bonnieupnorth said...

Appreciate the sundog 101. I got a couple of good shots as well in Arctic Bay on Feb 22.

norseman said...

That's a nice picture. The sundogs are also called parhelia, and they occur 22 degrees arc from the sun. They are usually on each side of the sun, but sometimes a third is located directly above the sun. One time we watched a remarkable sunrise near Charles Island in Hudson Strait. There were three sundogs in the corona.