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{{short description|Atmospheric optical phenomenon}}
{{alternateuses}}
{{About|the atmospheric phenomenon}}
{{Redirect-distinguish2|Parhelion|], the inner orbital extreme of a planetary body}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}


], ]. Note the halo arcs passing through each sun dog.]] ]. Also visible are parts of the ] (the arcs passing through each sun dog), a ] (the vertical line), and the ] (the horizontal line).]]
]


A '''sun dog''' (or '''sundog''') or '''mock sun''', also called a '''parhelion'''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?id=P5078500|title=American Heritage Dictionary Entry — parhelion|website=]|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref> (plural '''parhelia''') in ], is an ] ] that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the ]. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a ].
A '''sun dog''' or '''sundog''' (scientific name '''parhelion''', plural '''parhelia''', for "beside the sun") is a common bright circular spot on a solar ]. It is an atmospheric ] primarily associated with the ] or ] of ] by small ] making up ] or ]s. Often, two sun dogs can be seen (one on each side of the sun) simultaneously.


The sun dog is a member of the family of ] caused by the ] of sunlight by ] in the atmosphere. Sun dogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, ] to the left and right of the Sun, and at the same ] above the horizon as the Sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. Sun dogs are best seen and most conspicuous when the Sun is near the horizon.
==Physical characteristics==
]
].]]
Sundogs typically, but not exclusively, appear when the ] is low, e.g. at sunrise and sunset, and the atmosphere is filled with ice crystal forming cirrus clouds, but ] and ] can also produce them. They are often bright white patches of light looking much like the sun or a ], and occasionally are confused with those phenomena. Sometimes they exhibit a spectrum of colours, ranging from red closest to the sun to a pale bluish tail stretching away from the sun.<ref name="weather-dr">{{cite web
| url = http://islandnet.com/~see/weather/elements/sundog.htm
| title = Sun Dogs | publisher = The Weather Doctor
| accessdate = 2007-04-14 | date = 2001/2005 | author = Keith C. Heidorn
}}</ref> White sundogs are caused by light reflected off of atmospheric ice crystals, while coloured sundogs are caused by light refracted ''through'' them. White sundogs are also thought to be caused by the light from the sun reflecting off of water on the ground and focusing the reflected light on the clouds above.


== Formation and characteristics ==
The ice crystals causing atmospheric phenomena are shaped as ]s (], e.g. with a hexagonal top and bottom and six rectangular sides). Some of these crystals are elongated, some are flat; the latter causing crisp and bright sundogs if evenly oriented with their hexagonal ends aligned horizontally, while the former produces other atmospheric phenomena, such as ]s, ]s, ]s, ]s, and ]s. A mixture of various crystals with different alignments produces several of these phenomena at the same time.<ref name="weather-dr" />
] ].]]
]. Also visible are a ], an ], a 22° halo, and part of the parhelic circle.]]
When sunlight passes through the sides of a flat crystal, both the angle of the sun rays and the orientation of the crystals affects the shape and colour of the sundogs. Misaligned or wobbling crystals produce colourful and elongated sundogs, while light passing through the crystal in non-optimal deviation angles (up to 50°) produces the "tail" of the sundog stretching away from the sun. As refraction is dependent on ], the sundogs tend to have red inner edges while the colours farther from the sun tend to be more bluish-white as colours increasingly overlap.<ref name="weather-dr" /><ref name="atoptics-parhelia">{{cite web
], ]]]
| url = http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/parhelia.htm
], Canada]]
| title = Sundogs (parhelia) | publisher = Atmospheric Optics
| accessdate = 07-04-15 | author = L. Cowley
}}</ref>


Sun dogs are commonly caused by the ] and ] of light from horizontally oriented<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/atmos/halo22.html|title=The 22° Halo|website=Georgia State University |access-date=20 April 2023}}</ref> plate-shaped ] ] either ] in high and cold ] or ]s, or drifting in freezing moist air at low levels as ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/diamonds.htm|title=Diamond dust|website=Atmospheric Optics|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref> The crystals act as ], bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°. As the crystals gently float downwards with their large hexagonal faces almost horizontal, sunlight is refracted horizontally, and sun dogs are seen to the left and right of the Sun. Larger plates wobble more, and thus produce taller sun dogs.<ref name="Sundog formation">{{cite web | url = http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/dogfm.htm | title = Sundog formation | website = Atmospheric Optics | access-date = 16 May 2017}}</ref>
When the sun is low, the two sundogs are located on the circle of the 22° halo. As the sun rises, the sundogs slowly move along the parhelic circle away from the sun, finally to vanish as the sun reaches 61° over the horizon<ref name="weather-dr" /> (e.g. the sundogs move from the 22° halo to the ]).<ref name="atoptics-Circumscribed-halo-Eklund">{{cite web
| url = http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/circim2.htm
| title = Circumscribed Halo | publisher = Atmospheric Optics
| accessdate = 07-04-15 | author = L. Cowley
}}</ref>


Sun dogs are red-colored at the side nearest the Sun; farther out the colors grade through oranges to blue. The colors overlap considerably and are muted, never pure or saturated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/dogcol.htm|title=Sundog Colours|website=Atmospheric Optics|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref> The colors of the sun dog finally merge into the white of the ] (if the latter is visible).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/parcirc.htm|title=Parhelic Circle|website=Atmospheric Optics|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>
On Earth, the first planet (counting from the sun) with significant amounts of ice crystal-carrying clouds, the pair of sundogs flanking the sun are aligned with the horizon. On other ]s and ] where water and ice are less prevalent, however, various ]s produce different halos. On the giant gas planets&mdash;], ], ] and ]&mdash;other crystals form the clouds of ], ], and other substances that can produce halos with four or more sundogs.<ref name="atoptics-other-worlds">{{cite web
| url = http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/oworld.htm
| title = Other Worlds | publisher = Atmospheric Optics
| accessdate = 07-04-15 | author = L. Cowley
}}</ref>


The same plate-shaped ice crystals that cause sun dogs are also responsible for the colorful ], meaning that these two types of halo tend to co-occur.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/czaform.htm|title=Circumzenithal Arc|website=Atmospheric Optics|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref> The latter is often missed by viewers, since it is located more or less directly overhead. Another halo variety often seen together with sun dogs is the ], which forms a ring at roughly the same angular distance from the sun as the sun dogs, thus appearing to interconnect them. As the Sun rises higher, the rays passing through the plate crystals are increasingly skewed from the horizontal plane, causing their angle of deviation to increase and the sun dogs to move farther from the 22° halo, while staying at the same elevation.<ref name="atoptics-sunalt">{{cite web | url = http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/dogalt.htm | title = Sundogs & Sun Altitude | website = Atmospheric Optics | access-date = 16 May 2017 | first = L | last = Cowley}}</ref>
In remote stretches of western ], ''sundog'' refers ] to a segment of a common ].{{Fact|date=July 2007}}


It is possible to predict the forms of sun dogs as would be seen on other planets and moons. ] might have sun dogs formed by both water-ice and CO<sub>2</sub>-ice. On the ]s—], ], ], and ]—other crystals form clouds of ], ], and other substances that can produce halos with four or more sun dogs.<ref name="atoptics-other-worlds">{{cite web | url = http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/oworld.htm | title = Other Worlds | website = Atmospheric Optics | access-date = 16 May 2017 | first = L | last = Cowley}}</ref>
==History==
===Egypt===
There are records among the writings of the ]ians that discuss two suns in the sky, and one that discusses the sun ''setting'' in the east, or moving backward.


A related phenomenon, the ] is also known as a "leaping Sundog".
===Greece===
] (Meteorology III.2, 372a14) notes that "two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset." He says that "mock suns" are always to the side, never above or below, most commonly at sunrise or sunset, more rarely in the middle of the day.


===Cicero=== == Terminology ==
A somewhat common misconception among the general public is to refer to any member of the ice ] family as a "sun dog" (especially the ], being one of the most common varieties). However, sun dogs represent just one of many different types of halos. For referring to the atmospheric phenomenon in general, the term ''(ice crystal) halo(s)'' is more appropriate.
]
A passage in ]'s '']'' (54-51 BC) is one of many by Greek and Roman authors who refer to sundogs and similar phenomena:
<blockquote>Be it so, said Tubero; and since you invite me to discussion, and present the opportunity, let us first examine, before any one else arrives, what can be the nature of the parhelion, or double sun, which was mentioned in the senate. Those that affirm they witnessed this prodigy are neither few nor unworthy of credit, so that there is more reason for investigation than incredulity.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14988/14988-h/14988-h.htm#FNA-296
| title = On the Commonwealth, Book 1 | author = ]
| pages = (260), 367, (369) | publisher = ] (literal translation by C. D. Yonge, 1877)
}}</ref></blockquote>


== Etymology ==
===Wars of the Roses===
The exact etymology of ''sun dog'' largely remains a mystery. The '']'' says it is "of obscure origin".<ref>{{cite dictionary|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100542361|title=Sundog|dictionary=]|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>
The prelude to the ] is supposed to have involved the appearance of a complete parhelion with three "suns". The ] took them to represent Edward of York, George of Clarence and Richard of Gloucester and their impending victory.


In Abram Palmer's 1882 book ''Folk-etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, by False Derivation Or Mistaken Analogy'', sun-dogs are defined:
===Jakob Hutter===
Possibly the earliest clear description of a sun dog is by ], who wrote in his ''Brotherly Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution'':
<blockquote>My beloved children, I want to tell you that on the day after the departure of our brothers Kuntz and Michel, on a Friday, we saw three suns in the sky for a good long time, about an hour, as well as two rainbows. These had their backs turned toward each other, almost touching in the middle, and their ends pointed away from each other. And this I, Jakob, saw with my own eyes, and many brothers and sisters saw it with me. After a while the two suns and rainbows disappeared, and only the one sun remained. Even though the other two suns were not as bright as the one, they were clearly visible. I feel this was no small miracle …<ref name="Hutter">{{cite book
| author = ]
| title = Brotherly Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution
| chapter = | pages = 20-21 | edition = | year = 1979
| publisher = Plough Publishing
| location = Rifton, NY | isbn = 0-87486-191-8
}}</ref></blockquote>
The observation most likely occurred in ], ] in very late October or very early November of 1533. The original was written in German and is from a letter originally sent in November 1533 from Auspitz in Moravia to the Adige Valley in ]. The Kuntz Maurer and Michel Schuster mentioned in the letter left Hutter on the Thursday after the feast day of ] and ], which is October 28. (This quote is also referenced by ] on page 94 of the November 1997 and December 1997 issues of '']''.)


{{quote |The phenomena of false suns which sometimes attend or dog the true when seen through the mist (''parhelions''). In Norfolk a ''sun-dog'' is a light spot near the sun, and ''water-dogs'' are the light watery clouds; ''dog'' here is no doubt the same word as ''dag'', dew or mist as "a little ''dag'' of rain" (''Philolog. Soc. Trans.'' 1855, p. 80). {{abbr|Cf.|Compare}} Icel. {{lang|is|dogg}}, Dan. and Swed. {{lang|da|dug}} <nowiki>=</nowiki> Eng. "''dew''."<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX5BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA379|title=Folk-etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, by False Derivation Or Mistaken Analogy |last=Palmer |first=Abram Smythe |date=1882 |publisher=G. Bell and Sons}}</ref>}}
===Vädersolstavlan===
] in 1535 and the celestial phenomenon at the time interpreted as an ominous presage]]
While mostly known and often quoted for being the oldest colour depiction of the city of ], ] (]; "The Sundog Painting", literally "The Weather Sun Painting") is arguably also one of the oldest known depictions of a sun dog. For two hours in the morning of April 20 1535, the skies over the city were filled with white circles and arcs crossing the sky, while additional suns appeared around the sun. The phenomenon quickly resulted in rumours of an ] of God's forthcoming revenge on King ] (1496-1560) for having introduced ] during the 1520s and for being heavy-handed with his enemies allied with the Danish king.


(''Dog'' in English as a verb can mean "hunt, track, or follow",<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Dog|access-date=2017-12-03}}</ref> so ''Dog the true '' has meant ''track the true '' since the 1510s.<ref>{{OEtymD|dog|accessdate=2017-12-03}}</ref>)
Hoping to end speculations, the Chancellor and ] scholar ] (1493-1552) ordered a painting to be produced documenting the event. When confronted with the painting, the king, however, interpreted it as a conspiracy - the real sun of course being himself threatened by competing fake suns, one being Olaus Petri and the other the clergyman and scholar ] (1470-1552), both thus accused of treachery, but eventually escaping capital punishment. The original painting is lost, but a copy from the 1630s survives and still can be seen in the church ] in central Stockholm.<ref name="SVT">{{cite web
| author = Pererik Åberg
| title = Vädersolstavlan
| publisher = ]
| date = 2003-07-10
| location = Stockholm
| url = http://svt.se/svt/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=11190&a=99963
| accessdate = 2007-01-28
}}</ref>


Alternatively, Jonas Persson suggested that out of ] and archaic names — {{langx|da|solhunde}} (sun dog), {{langx|no|solhund}} (sun dog), {{langx|sv|solvarg}} (sun wolf) — in the Scandinavian languages, constellations of ] ] hunting the Sun and the Moon, one after and one before, may be a possible origin for the term.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitaliseducation.com/resources-norse.html|title=Norse Constellations|author=Persson, Jonas|publisher=Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc.|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>
]


''Parhelion'' (plural ''parhelia'') comes from {{langx|grc|παρήλιον}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|parēlion}}, 'beside the sun'; from {{lang|grc|παρά}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|para}}, 'beside') and {{lang|grc|ἥλιος}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|helios}}, 'sun')).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/parhelion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015161910/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/parhelion |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 October 2012 |title=Parhelion |work=] |access-date=16 May 2017 }}</ref>
===Nuremberg, Germany in 1561===
On April 14 1561, the skies over ], ] were filled with a multitude of celestial objects that were observed by many people in the city. The objects were depicted five years later in the 1566 woodcut by Hans Glaser of the "1561 Nuremberg event", that is displayed to the left.<ref></ref> Several of the images resemble the types of phenomenon that occur as parhelia or halos.<ref>Arbeitskreis Meteore and </ref>


In the ] dialect of ], ], sun dogs are known as ''weather dogs'' (described as "a short segment of a rainbow seen on the horizon, foreshowing foul weather"). It is also known as ''a lagas in the sky'' which comes from the ] term for the sun dog {{lang|kw|lagas awel}} meaning 'weather's eye' ({{lang|kw|lagas}}, 'eye' and {{lang|kw|awel}}, 'weather/wind'). This is in turn related to the Anglo-Cornish term ''cock's eye'' for a halo round the Sun or the Moon, also a ] of bad weather.<ref name="Nance - Cornish Sea-Words">{{cite book |last1=Nance |first1=Robert Morton |last2=Pool |first2=P. A. S. |title=A Glossary of Cornish Sea-Words |date=1963 |publisher=Federation of Old Cornwall Societies |pages=61, 104, 155, 172 }}</ref>
===Shackleton===
]
In her history ''Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of ] and the Endurance'', telling the story of '']'''s ill-fated polar expedition in 1912, ] writes:
<blockquote>… All around them, too, were signs that the Antarctic winter was fast approaching: there were now twelve hours of darkness, and during the daylight hours petrels and terns fled toward the north. Skuas kept up a screeching clamor, and penguins on the move honked and brayed from the ice for miles around. Killer whales cruised the open leads, blowing spouts of icy spray. The tricks of the Antarctic atmosphere brought mock suns and green sunsets, and showers of jewel-coloured ice crystals.<ref name="armstrong">{{cite book
| author = ]
| title = Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of ] and the ]
| edition = | year = 1998
| publisher = Crown
| location = NY | isbn = 0-375-81049-8
| pages = 123 | chapter =
}}</ref></blockquote>


==In fiction== == History ==
]'']]
A reference to 'parhelia' occurs in the Introduction to ]'s 1962 novel '']'':
<blockquote>The short (166) Canto One, with all those amusing birds and parhelia, occupies thirteen cards.


=== Antiquity ===
<ref name="nabokov">{{cite book
| author = ]
| title = ]
| pages = 315
| edition = | year = 1962
| publisher = G. P. Putnam's Sons
| location = NY
}}</ref></blockquote><poem>
...and that rare phenomenon
The iridule--when beautiful and strange,
In a bright sky above a mountain range
One opal cloudlet in an oval form
Reflects the rainbow of a thunderstorm...
In the fifth novel of the ], '']'', ] writes:
<blockquote>A visit to the cabin showed him the glass lower still: sickeningly low. And back on the poop he saw that he was by no means the only one to have noticed the mounting sea – an oddly disturbed sea, as if moved by some not very distant force; white water too, and a strange green colour in the curl of the waves and in the water slipping by. He glanced north-west, and there the sun, though shining still, had a halo, with sun-dogs on either side. Ahead, the aurora had gained in strength: streamers of an unearthly splendour.<ref name="obrian">{{cite book
| author = ]
| title = ]
| pages = 279
| edition = | year = 1978
| publisher = Norton
| location = NY | isbn = 0-393-30813-8
| pages = 123 | chapter = 9
}}</ref></blockquote>


] (''Meteorology'' III.2, 372a14) notes that "two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset." He says that "mock suns" are always to the side, never above or below, most commonly at sunrise or sunset, more rarely in the middle of the day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/meteorology.3.iii.html#98|title=Meteorology by Aristotle – Part 2|website=The Internet Classics Archive|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>
In her popular historical novel about ], ''The Sunne in Splendour'', ] writes:
<blockquote>Hastings laughed, too, and shook his head. 'Men do make their luck, Lady Margaret, and never have I seen that better proven than at Mortimer's Cross. For ere the battle, there appeared a most fearsome and strange sight in the sky.' He paused. 'Three suns did we see over us, shining full clear.'</blockquote>


The poet ] (''Phaenomena'', lines 880–891) mentions parhelia as part of his catalogue of Weather Signs; according to him, they can indicate rain, wind, or an approaching storm.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theoi.com/Text/AratusPhaenomena.html|title=Aratus, Phaenomena|website=Theoi Classical Texts Library|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>
In a footnote it is clarified: "Phenomenon known as a parhelion, generally caused by the formation of ice crystals in the upper air."


] in his ''Oneirocritica'' ('On the Interpretation of Dreams') included the mock suns amongst a list of celestial deities.<ref>p. 125 Artemidorus – The Interpretation Of Dreams Oneirocritica by Artemidorus Translation and Commentary by Robert J. White c. 1975 1990 Original Books, Inc. 2nd Edition {{ISBN|0-944558-03-8}}</ref>
Two pages later, again mentioning the English king ], she adds: "Many, she saw, flaunted streaming sun emblems to denote her son's triumph under the triple suns at Mortimer's Cross."<ref name="Penman">{{cite book
| author = ]
| title = The Sunne in Splendour
| chapter = 9 | pages = 279
| edition = | year = 1982
| publisher = Ballantine
| location = NY | isbn = 0-345-36313-2
| pages = 60 | chapter = 4
}}</ref>


A passage in ]'s '']'' (54–51 BC) is one of many Roman authors who refer to sun dogs and similar phenomena:
] also appears to mention the phenomenon in his '']'' when he has Edward say, "Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns?"


{{quote |Be it so, said Tubero; and since you invite me to discussion, and present the opportunity, let us first examine, before any one else arrives, what can be the nature of the parhelion, or double sun, which was mentioned in the senate. Those that affirm they witnessed this prodigy are neither few nor unworthy of credit, so that there is more reason for investigation than incredulity.<ref>{{cite book | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14988/14988-h/14988-h.htm#FNA-296 | title = On the Commonwealth, Book 1 | author = Cicero | author-link = Cicero | pages = (260), 367, (369) | publisher = ] | translator= CD Yonge| date = 1877}}</ref>}}
Sundogs appear in the film '']''. At the beginning of the film, as the men are leaving work, they see the phenomenon. ]'s character describes it as an 'old Indian thing' and "A blessing on the hunter sent by the great wolf to his children".


] makes an incidental reference to sun dogs in the first book of his '']''.<ref>Seneca, Ricerche sulla Natura, P. Parroni editor, Mondadori, 2010</ref>
The ] writer ] has a novella called '']''.


The 2nd-century Roman writer and philosopher ] in his ''Apologia'' says "What is the cause of the prismatic colours of the rainbow, or of the appearance in heaven of two rival images of the sun, with sundry other phenomena treated in a monumental volume by ] of Syracuse."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Apuleius |first=Lucius |others=Translated by H.E. Butler |title=The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26294/26294-h/26294-h.htm |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=The Project Gutenberg |page=16 }}</ref>
] at the end of her novel ''Old Filth'' has the main character, Edward Feathers, see a parhelion from the window of a plane at sunrise on New Year''s Day: <blockquote>Later he looked down upon a fat carpet of clouds and saw something he had never seen in his life before. Two suns stood side by side in the sky. A parhelion. A formidable and ancient omen of something or other, he forgot what.".<ref name="gardam">{{cite book
| author = ]
| title = Old Filth (novel)
| pages = 290
| edition = | year = 2006
| publisher = Europa Editions
| location = NY | isbn = 1-933372-13-3
| pages = 286
}}</ref></blockquote>


], writing in Jerusalem in the early twelfth century, notes in his ''Historia Hierosolymitana'' (1127) that on February 23, 1106
Sun dogs are referenced in ]'s 1989 song "Chain Lightning" on the album '']''. ] (lyricist) has been quoted as saying:<blockquote>"I'm a weather fanatic...I watch the weather...and one night I was watching it and there are two incidents in that song that are synchronicity to one weather report where the weatherman showed a picture of sun dogs...they're a really beautiful natural phenomenon and I love the name, too. Sun dogs just has a great sound to it."<ref name="Peart">{{cite book
{{Quote|text=... from the third hour (9 am) until midday, we saw left and right from the Sun what looked like two other Suns: they did not shine like the big one, but smaller in appearance and radiance they reddened moderately. Above their circle a halo appeared, shining very brightly, extending in its breadth as if it were some kind of city. Inside this circle a half-circle appeared, similar to a rainbow, distinct in its fourfold color, in the higher part curved towards the two aforementioned Suns, touching them in an embrace of the Sun. <ref>Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana 2.35.4</ref>|sign=|source=}}
| author = ]
| title = ]
| publisher = Atlantic Records
| edition = | year = 1989}}</ref></blockquote>


===Wars of the Roses===
The band ] used the image in the lyrics to "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" on the 2007 album '']''<ref name="sonmeanings">{{cite web
{{Quote box|align=right|width=20%| And also abowte Ester was sene in Sussex three sonnes shenynge at one tyme in the eyer, that thei cowde not dysserne wych shulde be the very sonne.
| title = Of Montreal - The Past Is A Grotesque Animal
|source={{Citation|title=Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London|url=https://archive.org/stream/chronicleofgreyf00londrich#page/69/mode/2up|publisher= Printed for the Camden society|year=1852}}}}
| publisher = SongMeanings.net
The prelude to the ] in ], ] in 1461 is supposed to have involved the appearance of a halo display with three "suns". The ] commander, later ], convinced his initially frightened troops that it represented the three sons of the Duke of York, and Edward's troops won a decisive victory. The event was dramatized by ] in '']'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.decodedscience.org/the-mortimers-cross-parhelion-how-a-meteorological-phenomenon-changed-english-history/3437|title=The Mortimer's Cross Parhelion: How a Meteorological Phenomenon Changed English History|date=2 October 2011|first=Jennifer|last=Young|website=Decoded Science|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref> and by ] in '']''.
| date = 2006-09-09 | accessdate = 2007-02-16
| url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858624057
}} (The page uses this Misplaced Pages article as a reference to sort out the 'obscure references' of Kevin Barnes.)</ref>:
<blockquote><poem>
I've played the unraveler, the parhelion
But even Apocalypse is fleeting
There's no death, no ugly world
</poem></blockquote>


=== Early modern era ===
The British ] band ] put out an EP called "Sun dogs" in 1994.


Another early clear description of sun dogs is by ], who wrote in his ''Brotherly Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution'':
The minor league hockey team, the ], is named after this phenomenon. Their logo features the letter "S" surrounding twin suns.


{{quote |My beloved children, I want to tell you that on the day after the departure of our brothers Kuntz and Michel, on a Friday, we saw three suns in the sky for a good long time, about an hour, as well as two rainbows. These had their backs turned toward each other, almost touching in the middle, and their ends pointed away from each other. And this I, Jakob, saw with my own eyes, and many brothers and sisters saw it with me. After a while the two suns and rainbows disappeared, and only the one sun remained. Even though the other two suns were not as bright as the one, they were clearly visible. I feel this was no small miracle…<ref name="Hutter">{{cite book | first=Jakob | last=Hutter | author-link = Jakob Hutter | title = Brotherly Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution | pages = 20–21 | date = 1979 | publisher = Plough Publishing | location = Rifton, NY | isbn = 978-0-87486-191-4}}</ref>}}
] has a short story called ''The Sun Dog Trail''.


The observation most likely occurred in ], ] on 31 October 1533. The original was written in German and is from a letter originally sent in November 1533 from Auspitz in Moravia to the ] in ]. The Kuntz Maurer and Michel Schuster mentioned in the letter left Hutter on the Thursday after the feast day of ] and ], which is 28 October. The Thursday after was 30 October.<ref>{{citation | last = Schaaf | first = Fred | page = 94 | date = November–December 1997 | title = Sky & Telescope| title-link = Sky & Telescope }}</ref> It is likely that the "two rainbows with their backs turned toward each other, almost touching" involved two further halo phenomena, possibly a ] (prone to co-occur with sun dogs) together with a partial ] or ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fz463.htm|title=Look for the rare one|website=Atmospheric Optics|access-date=16 May 2017}}</ref>
One of ]'s early experiments in 1962 employing the silk-screen process to reuse previously published images in "Combine Paintings" is titled "Sun Dog".


]'') depicting ] in 1535 and the celestial phenomenon at the time interpreted as an ominous presage]]
The poem ''Die Nebensonnen'' ("The Parhelia"), by ] from his 1823-24 cycle ], was set to music by ]: it begins "Drei Sonnen sah ich am Himmel stehn..." ("Three Suns I saw in the sky").


While mostly known and often quoted for being the oldest color depiction of the city of ], '']'' (]; "The Sundog Painting", literally "The Weather Sun Painting") is arguably{{Citation needed|reason=no reference given, is this original research?|date=January 2015}} also one of the oldest known depictions of a halo display, including a pair of sun dogs. For two hours in the morning of 20 April 1535, the skies over the city were filled with white circles and arcs crossing the sky, while additional suns (i.e., sun dogs) appeared around the sun. The phenomenon quickly resulted in rumours of an ] of God's forthcoming revenge on King ] (1496–1560) for having introduced ] during the 1520s and for being heavy-handed with his enemies allied with the Danish king.{{Citation needed|reason=no reference given, is this original research?|date=January 2015}}
In the 1947 novel '']'', Sgt. Mike Flannigan, a Canadian Mountie, explains sun dogs when they are seen by his young Bostonian wife for the first time. Claiming to have observed as many as sixteen of them together in the sky at a single time, he says the Indians believe they are "evil stars trying to kill the sun," but that they are actually caused by atmospheric conditions, and that when they appear "ten to one there's a blizzard by the morning."


Hoping to end speculations, the Chancellor ] (1493–1552), a ] scholar, ordered a painting to be produced documenting the event. When confronted with the painting, the King, however, interpreted it as a conspiracy — the real sun, of course, being himself —threatened by competing fake suns, one being Olaus Petri and the other the clergyman and scholar ] (1470–1552). Both were thus accused of treachery, but eventually escaped capital punishment. The original painting is lost, but a copy from the 1630s survives and can still be seen in the church ] in central Stockholm.
==See also==
]]]


A series of complex parhelia displays in Rome in 1629, and again in 1630, were described by ] in his book ''Parhelia'', one of the earliest works on the subject. It had a profound effect, causing ] to interrupt his metaphysical studies and led to his work of natural philosophy called '']''.<ref>, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy</ref>
*]

*]
On 20 February 1661 the people of ] witnessed ], described by Georg Fehlau in a pamphlet, the ''Sevenfold Sun Miracle'', and again the following year by ] in his book, ''Mercurius in Sole visus Gedani''.
*]

*]
On 18 June 1790 ], in ], observed a complex display of haloes and parhelia which included his ]s.
*]

*]
=== Late modern era to current day ===
*]

In 1843, winter in the British Colony of ] was referred to as the 'Winter of Three Suns' and was unusually cold with 15 days of temperatures between 3–10 degrees below zero.<ref>{{cite book |last=Payne |first=John C. |title=J. C. Payne (1905–1984) Scrapbooks (newspaper clippings) |location=Harbour Grace Public Library. Harbour Grace, NL }}</ref>

"Part of the time we marched in the teeth of a biting storm of snow, and at every hour of the day the sun could be discerned sulking behind soft grey mists in company with rivals, known in the language of the plains as 'Sun-dogs', whose parahelic splendors warned the traveler of the approach of the ever-to-be-dreaded 'blizzard'."<ref name=Bourke>{{Cite book |last=Bourke |first=John |title=Mackenzie's Last Fight with the Cheyennes |publisher=Argonaut Press Ltd. |year=1966 |page=10}}</ref>{{whose quote|date=June 2023}}

On 14 February 2020, the people of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region witnessed a different complex halo display called the Five-fold sun miracle, in which all five sun halos were linked to each other by rays, forming a circle among them.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chinese city bears witness to five suns appearing in sky simultaneously |url=https://arynews.tv/en/five-suns-appearing-in-sky/ |website=ARY News |date=15 February 2020 |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref>

== See also ==
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{citation
|last=Minnaert|first=Marcel|author-link=Marcel Minnaert
|date=1993
|title=Light and Color in the Outdoors
|publisher=Springer
|isbn= 978-0-387-97935-9}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons|Parhelion|Sun dog}} {{Commons|Parhelion|Sun dog}}
{{Wiktionarypar2|sun dog|parhelion}} {{Wiktionary|sun dog|parhelion}}
*, Explanations and Images, Les Cowley's Atmospheric Optics site * , Explanations and Images
* - Photos of sun dogs *
*
* - Some photos and some text
*
*
*
*
* – A phenomenon that occurred during the launch of the ]
* {{Cite APOD |title=Jumping Sundog video and explanation |date=8 November 2011 |access-date=16 May 2017}}


] ]
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Latest revision as of 17:15, 5 November 2024

Atmospheric optical phenomenon This article is about the atmospheric phenomenon. For other uses, see Sun dog (disambiguation). "Parhelion" redirects here. Not to be confused with perihelion, the inner orbital extreme of a planetary body.

Very bright sun dogs in Fargo, North Dakota. Also visible are parts of the 22° halo (the arcs passing through each sun dog), a sun pillar (the vertical line), and the parhelic circle (the horizontal line).

A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, also called a parhelion (plural parhelia) in atmospheric science, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo.

The sun dog is a member of the family of halos caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere. Sun dogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, around 22° to the left and right of the Sun, and at the same altitude above the horizon as the Sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. Sun dogs are best seen and most conspicuous when the Sun is near the horizon.

Formation and characteristics

Two sun dogs, and a partial 22° halo in Sun City West, Arizona.
A right-hand sun dog in Salem, Massachusetts. Also visible are a Parry arc, an upper tangent arc, a 22° halo, and part of the parhelic circle.
Sun dogs in Hesse, Germany
Two sun dogs along with other ice halos in Saskatoon, Canada

Sun dogs are commonly caused by the refraction and scattering of light from horizontally oriented plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals either suspended in high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus clouds, or drifting in freezing moist air at low levels as diamond dust. The crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°. As the crystals gently float downwards with their large hexagonal faces almost horizontal, sunlight is refracted horizontally, and sun dogs are seen to the left and right of the Sun. Larger plates wobble more, and thus produce taller sun dogs.

Sun dogs are red-colored at the side nearest the Sun; farther out the colors grade through oranges to blue. The colors overlap considerably and are muted, never pure or saturated. The colors of the sun dog finally merge into the white of the parhelic circle (if the latter is visible).

The same plate-shaped ice crystals that cause sun dogs are also responsible for the colorful circumzenithal arc, meaning that these two types of halo tend to co-occur. The latter is often missed by viewers, since it is located more or less directly overhead. Another halo variety often seen together with sun dogs is the 22° halo, which forms a ring at roughly the same angular distance from the sun as the sun dogs, thus appearing to interconnect them. As the Sun rises higher, the rays passing through the plate crystals are increasingly skewed from the horizontal plane, causing their angle of deviation to increase and the sun dogs to move farther from the 22° halo, while staying at the same elevation.

It is possible to predict the forms of sun dogs as would be seen on other planets and moons. Mars might have sun dogs formed by both water-ice and CO2-ice. On the giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—other crystals form clouds of ammonia, methane, and other substances that can produce halos with four or more sun dogs.

A related phenomenon, the Crown flash is also known as a "leaping Sundog".

Terminology

A somewhat common misconception among the general public is to refer to any member of the ice halo family as a "sun dog" (especially the 22° halo, being one of the most common varieties). However, sun dogs represent just one of many different types of halos. For referring to the atmospheric phenomenon in general, the term (ice crystal) halo(s) is more appropriate.

Etymology

The exact etymology of sun dog largely remains a mystery. The Oxford English Dictionary says it is "of obscure origin".

In Abram Palmer's 1882 book Folk-etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, by False Derivation Or Mistaken Analogy, sun-dogs are defined:

The phenomena of false suns which sometimes attend or dog the true when seen through the mist (parhelions). In Norfolk a sun-dog is a light spot near the sun, and water-dogs are the light watery clouds; dog here is no doubt the same word as dag, dew or mist as "a little dag of rain" (Philolog. Soc. Trans. 1855, p. 80). Cf. Icel. dogg, Dan. and Swed. dug = Eng. "dew."

(Dog in English as a verb can mean "hunt, track, or follow", so Dog the true has meant track the true since the 1510s.)

Alternatively, Jonas Persson suggested that out of Norse mythology and archaic names — Danish: solhunde (sun dog), Norwegian: solhund (sun dog), Swedish: solvarg (sun wolf) — in the Scandinavian languages, constellations of two wolves hunting the Sun and the Moon, one after and one before, may be a possible origin for the term.

Parhelion (plural parhelia) comes from Ancient Greek: παρήλιον (parēlion, 'beside the sun'; from παρά (para, 'beside') and ἥλιος (helios, 'sun')).

In the Anglo-Cornish dialect of Cornwall, United Kingdom, sun dogs are known as weather dogs (described as "a short segment of a rainbow seen on the horizon, foreshowing foul weather"). It is also known as a lagas in the sky which comes from the Cornish language term for the sun dog lagas awel meaning 'weather's eye' (lagas, 'eye' and awel, 'weather/wind'). This is in turn related to the Anglo-Cornish term cock's eye for a halo round the Sun or the Moon, also a portent of bad weather.

History

Sun dog phenomenon depicted in the Nuremberg Chronicle

Antiquity

Aristotle (Meteorology III.2, 372a14) notes that "two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset." He says that "mock suns" are always to the side, never above or below, most commonly at sunrise or sunset, more rarely in the middle of the day.

The poet Aratus (Phaenomena, lines 880–891) mentions parhelia as part of his catalogue of Weather Signs; according to him, they can indicate rain, wind, or an approaching storm.

Artemidorus in his Oneirocritica ('On the Interpretation of Dreams') included the mock suns amongst a list of celestial deities.

A passage in Cicero's On the Republic (54–51 BC) is one of many Roman authors who refer to sun dogs and similar phenomena:

Be it so, said Tubero; and since you invite me to discussion, and present the opportunity, let us first examine, before any one else arrives, what can be the nature of the parhelion, or double sun, which was mentioned in the senate. Those that affirm they witnessed this prodigy are neither few nor unworthy of credit, so that there is more reason for investigation than incredulity.

Seneca makes an incidental reference to sun dogs in the first book of his Naturales Quaestiones.

The 2nd-century Roman writer and philosopher Apuleius in his Apologia says "What is the cause of the prismatic colours of the rainbow, or of the appearance in heaven of two rival images of the sun, with sundry other phenomena treated in a monumental volume by Archimedes of Syracuse."

Fulcher of Chartres, writing in Jerusalem in the early twelfth century, notes in his Historia Hierosolymitana (1127) that on February 23, 1106

... from the third hour (9 am) until midday, we saw left and right from the Sun what looked like two other Suns: they did not shine like the big one, but smaller in appearance and radiance they reddened moderately. Above their circle a halo appeared, shining very brightly, extending in its breadth as if it were some kind of city. Inside this circle a half-circle appeared, similar to a rainbow, distinct in its fourfold color, in the higher part curved towards the two aforementioned Suns, touching them in an embrace of the Sun.

Wars of the Roses

And also abowte Ester was sene in Sussex three sonnes shenynge at one tyme in the eyer, that thei cowde not dysserne wych shulde be the very sonne.

Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London, Printed for the Camden society, 1852

The prelude to the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire, England in 1461 is supposed to have involved the appearance of a halo display with three "suns". The Yorkist commander, later Edward IV of England, convinced his initially frightened troops that it represented the three sons of the Duke of York, and Edward's troops won a decisive victory. The event was dramatized by William Shakespeare in King Henry VI, Part 3, and by Sharon Kay Penman in The Sunne In Splendour.

Early modern era

Another early clear description of sun dogs is by Jacob Hutter, who wrote in his Brotherly Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution:

My beloved children, I want to tell you that on the day after the departure of our brothers Kuntz and Michel, on a Friday, we saw three suns in the sky for a good long time, about an hour, as well as two rainbows. These had their backs turned toward each other, almost touching in the middle, and their ends pointed away from each other. And this I, Jakob, saw with my own eyes, and many brothers and sisters saw it with me. After a while the two suns and rainbows disappeared, and only the one sun remained. Even though the other two suns were not as bright as the one, they were clearly visible. I feel this was no small miracle…

The observation most likely occurred in Auspitz (Hustopeče), Moravia on 31 October 1533. The original was written in German and is from a letter originally sent in November 1533 from Auspitz in Moravia to the Adige Valley in South Tyrol. The Kuntz Maurer and Michel Schuster mentioned in the letter left Hutter on the Thursday after the feast day of Simon and Jude, which is 28 October. The Thursday after was 30 October. It is likely that the "two rainbows with their backs turned toward each other, almost touching" involved two further halo phenomena, possibly a circumzenithal arc (prone to co-occur with sun dogs) together with a partial 46° halo or supralateral arc.

The so-called "Sun Dog Painting" (Vädersolstavlan) depicting Stockholm in 1535 and the celestial phenomenon at the time interpreted as an ominous presage

While mostly known and often quoted for being the oldest color depiction of the city of Stockholm, Vädersolstavlan (Swedish; "The Sundog Painting", literally "The Weather Sun Painting") is arguably also one of the oldest known depictions of a halo display, including a pair of sun dogs. For two hours in the morning of 20 April 1535, the skies over the city were filled with white circles and arcs crossing the sky, while additional suns (i.e., sun dogs) appeared around the sun. The phenomenon quickly resulted in rumours of an omen of God's forthcoming revenge on King Gustav Vasa (1496–1560) for having introduced Protestantism during the 1520s and for being heavy-handed with his enemies allied with the Danish king.

Hoping to end speculations, the Chancellor Olaus Petri (1493–1552), a Lutheran scholar, ordered a painting to be produced documenting the event. When confronted with the painting, the King, however, interpreted it as a conspiracy — the real sun, of course, being himself —threatened by competing fake suns, one being Olaus Petri and the other the clergyman and scholar Laurentius Andreae (1470–1552). Both were thus accused of treachery, but eventually escaped capital punishment. The original painting is lost, but a copy from the 1630s survives and can still be seen in the church Storkyrkan in central Stockholm.

A series of complex parhelia displays in Rome in 1629, and again in 1630, were described by Christoph Scheiner in his book Parhelia, one of the earliest works on the subject. It had a profound effect, causing René Descartes to interrupt his metaphysical studies and led to his work of natural philosophy called The World.

On 20 February 1661 the people of Gdańsk witnessed a complex halo display, described by Georg Fehlau in a pamphlet, the Sevenfold Sun Miracle, and again the following year by Johannes Hevelius in his book, Mercurius in Sole visus Gedani.

On 18 June 1790 Johann Tobias Lowitz, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, observed a complex display of haloes and parhelia which included his Lowitz arcs.

Late modern era to current day

In 1843, winter in the British Colony of Newfoundland was referred to as the 'Winter of Three Suns' and was unusually cold with 15 days of temperatures between 3–10 degrees below zero.

"Part of the time we marched in the teeth of a biting storm of snow, and at every hour of the day the sun could be discerned sulking behind soft grey mists in company with rivals, known in the language of the plains as 'Sun-dogs', whose parahelic splendors warned the traveler of the approach of the ever-to-be-dreaded 'blizzard'."

On 14 February 2020, the people of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region witnessed a different complex halo display called the Five-fold sun miracle, in which all five sun halos were linked to each other by rays, forming a circle among them.

See also

References

  1. "American Heritage Dictionary Entry — parhelion". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  2. "The 22° Halo". Georgia State University. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  3. "Diamond dust". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  4. "Sundog formation". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  5. "Sundog Colours". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  6. "Parhelic Circle". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  7. "Circumzenithal Arc". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  8. Cowley, L. "Sundogs & Sun Altitude". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  9. Cowley, L. "Other Worlds". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  10. "Sundog". Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  11. Palmer, Abram Smythe (1882). Folk-etymology: A Dictionary of Verbal Corruptions Or Words Perverted in Form Or Meaning, by False Derivation Or Mistaken Analogy. G. Bell and Sons.
  12. "Dog". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  13. Harper, Douglas. "dog". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  14. Persson, Jonas. "Norse Constellations". Digitalis Education Solutions, Inc. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  15. "Parhelion". Oxford English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  16. Nance, Robert Morton; Pool, P. A. S. (1963). A Glossary of Cornish Sea-Words. Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. pp. 61, 104, 155, 172.
  17. "Meteorology by Aristotle – Part 2". The Internet Classics Archive. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  18. "Aratus, Phaenomena". Theoi Classical Texts Library. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  19. p. 125 Artemidorus – The Interpretation Of Dreams Oneirocritica by Artemidorus Translation and Commentary by Robert J. White c. 1975 1990 Original Books, Inc. 2nd Edition ISBN 0-944558-03-8
  20. Cicero (1877). On the Commonwealth, Book 1. Translated by CD Yonge. Project Gutenberg. pp. (260), 367, (369).
  21. Seneca, Ricerche sulla Natura, P. Parroni editor, Mondadori, 2010
  22. Apuleius, Lucius. "The Apologia and Florida of Apuleius of Madaura". The Project Gutenberg. Translated by H.E. Butler. p. 16. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  23. Fulcher of Chartres, Historia Hierosolymitana 2.35.4
  24. Young, Jennifer (2 October 2011). "The Mortimer's Cross Parhelion: How a Meteorological Phenomenon Changed English History". Decoded Science. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  25. Hutter, Jakob (1979). Brotherly Faithfulness: Epistles from a Time of Persecution. Rifton, NY: Plough Publishing. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-87486-191-4.
  26. Schaaf, Fred (November–December 1997), Sky & Telescope, p. 94
  27. "Look for the rare one". Atmospheric Optics. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  28. René Descartes – Metaphysical turn, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
  29. Payne, John C. J. C. Payne (1905–1984) Scrapbooks (newspaper clippings). Harbour Grace Public Library. Harbour Grace, NL.
  30. Bourke, John (1966). Mackenzie's Last Fight with the Cheyennes. Argonaut Press Ltd. p. 10.
  31. "Chinese city bears witness to five suns appearing in sky simultaneously". ARY News. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

Further reading

External links

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