What are sundogs and how do they form?

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Optical illusions that can be seen flanking the sun, sundogs are a beautiful and fascinating sight. When is the best time to see them and how did they get their canine-inspired name?

What are sundogs and how do they form? : Read more

 

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You've only scratched the surface. On a late October afternoon about five years ago I was lucky enough to see much more than just a couple of Sundogs.

I saw the Parry Arc, the Upper Tangent, the Supralateral Arc, the Infralateral Arc, and the most impressive of them all - the Circumzenithal Arc, which appeared dead overhead.

The Circumzenithal Arc's colors were brighter than any rainbow I've ever seen! These apparitions appeared all together at the same time and persisted for well over an hour! Just amazing! Here's a labeled graphic to show you where to look and what you can expect to see if you're lucky...

https://communitycloudatlas.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/alberta_halos.jpg

Since that day, whenever I see similar sky conditions (high wispy clouds) I never fail to look up for the appearance of these beautiful "icebows"!