Is This A Sun Dog?

[Kyle Allen]

I’ve never noticed this before but have read about various phenomena related to the Sun. Is the rainbow-coloured patch of light to the left of the Sun in the image I’ve attached a Sun Dog? Roughly measuring the distance from the Sun with my fist at arms length, it seems to be about the right distance away to match the description of one. It has faded from view now.

[Pete Presland]

It certainly looks like one to me.

[PeterW]

Yes, if you spot one, look out for other ice effects and halos... not uncommon, just people don’t go looking.

https://www.atoptics.co.uk

 

Peter

[Kyle Allen]

Thanks. It’s good to have it confirmed. 🙂

[Paz]

That's definitely a sun dog. I saw a little rainbow type effect early in the early afternoon near the sun. I was lying on a picnic mat looking up for shapes in the clouds, as one does, and saw this very high up.

[Kyle Allen]

So do they require those high wispy clouds to be seen? 

[gurneyfan67]

They usually are associated with high cirrus cloud such as those because they are composed mostly of ice crystals which refract the Sun's rays.

[Tenor Viol]

Parhelia are caused by refraction and scattering of light through a regular pattern of fine hexagonal ice crystals - it depends on the orientation of the ice crystals. Sun dogs / mock suns / parhelia are the commonest but there are other features. A completely parhelic circle, sun pillars, zenithal arcs etc.  There's a wiki which goes through the basics. The classic book used to be Minnaert's "Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air" but there are more modern alternatives. This is a modern edition of the book, mine is the older Dover edition https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Color-Outdoors-Mgj-Minnaert/dp/0387979352 

Edited July 14, 2020 by Tenor Viol