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Dispatch: Start looking for sundogs

February 20, 2014 at 5:32PM
"Who let the sunDOGS out? As the sun crawled into the southeastern sky on the shortest day of the year (Winter Solstice), sundogs, also called mock suns or parhelia, appeared as sunlight refracted through ice crystals in cirroform clouds. Winter Solstice has been celebrated in cultures the world over for thousands of years. This start of the solar year is a celebration of light and the rebirth of the Sun. In old Europe, it was known as Yule, from the Norse, Jul, meaning wheel. Today, many people
As the sun crawled into the southeastern sky on the shortest day of the year, sundogs appeared as sunlight refracted through ice crystals in the clouds. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

"Sundogs are a neat winter treat. The sun's light is getting bent by ice crystals in some of the highest clouds in the sky. What happens is the light hits these ice crystals, and, where the light normally goes straight, it instead is bent toward your eye. Sundogs normally occur in the rising or setting sun, when the sun's at a low angle. This time of year is the best opportunity to see sundogs, because most of us are awake to see the sun rise and set. The cold helps with making ice crystals, too. So look for sundogs on your commute home. It's like three suns in the sky. They're pretty awesome."

Jeremy Darst, naturalist, Whitewater State Park

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