Saw the most beautiful Sundogs.
Blog vol 5.38. Saw the most beautiful Sundogs.
What do dogs have to do with light? The Dog Star comes to mind, otherwise called Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, a binary star with two parts A and B, in the constellation of Canis Major (Harry Potter fans will appreciate the Sirius Black reference with his animagus form being a dog). But enough digression.
When I pulled into the parking lot at Burlington Eyecare this morning, got out of my car, and paused to look at the now sunny sky, there they were as plain as can be: Sundogs. When growing up in Northern Ontario, we saw them a lot in the frigid winter air and bright sunny days in South Porcupine. When the sun is just above the horizon on a colder morning one can sometimes see two little “suns” (Sundogs) at three and nine o’clock . Not that uncommon, but always breathtaking.
How does it happen? You have to have the right clouds, cirrus at elevation 20,000 feet, cold temperatures, and a clear sky. The sun’s rays pass through plate crystals which float in the air in cold climates. When the light passes through these floating crystals, it is refracted like with a prism (think Pink Floyd and the “Dark Side of the Moon”). The result is a concentration of light at the side positions. If you look closely, you can see a faint rainbow.
When you look at the colours of the Dogs, they start with red on the inner and go through the ROY G. BIV. order of a rainbow. Pure optics and very cool. There are also variations with larger sized crystals producing more “wobble” and subsequently taller Sundogs. The particular crystals and the angles at which they are positioned all affect the resulting Sundogs and where you will see them.
To see Sundogs it is best to look at the sun from a 22 degree angle which is why I could see them so well this morning. They usually appear as bright spots on either side of the sun and are most common in the winter. Sundogs can happen when the sun is higher up in the sky as well though they will be further from the sun (read more here).
Just stopping to enjoy the show, and then passing it on,
The good doctor
