sundog
Halo beside sun
A sundog is a bright spot or halo that appears in the sky on either side of the sun, caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in the atmosphere.
Sundogs typically occur when the sun is low on the horizon and often appear as rainbow-colored patches, though they can also be whitish.
They frequently come in pairs, positioned roughly 22 degrees from the sun.
The phenomenon is also called a parhelion or mock sun.
High wispy ice formation
- skyVisible overhead expanse
- weatherAtmospheric state outdoors
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
- stratosphereSecond atmospheric layer up
troposphere · visibility · dawn · dusk · horizon · arctic · polar · humidity
Wave bending between media
- dispersionScattering across space
- prismaticLight-dispersing, multicolored
- spectrumContinuous range of values
- iridescenceColor shift from interference
chromatic · glare · brilliance
parhelion
Mock solar apparition
cirrus
High wispy ice formation
- skyVisible overhead expanse
- weatherAtmospheric state outdoors
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
stratosphere · troposphere · visibility · dawn · dusk · horizon · arctic · polar · humidity · altitude
refraction
Wave bending between media
- dispersionScattering across space
- prismaticLight-dispersing, multicolored
- spectrumContinuous range of values
iridescence · chromatic · glare · brilliance
superstition
Baseless belief in omens
- phenomenanorthern lights, eclipse, earthquake, solar eclipse, volcanic eruption
- light phenomenarainbow, refraction, diffraction, spectrum, prism
- atmospheric formationcloud, fog, mist, haze, smog
- sky lightsnorthern lights, southern lights, rainbow, halo, moon halo
- sky opticsrainbow, double rainbow, halo, lunar halo, corona
- iridescentiridescent, opalescent, pearlescent, nacreous, prismatic