It’s A Sundog’s Life

Have you ever seen a sundog? They’re fairly common when you know what to look for.

My photographer friend Kathy Bell captured these images of a beautiful one in the western sky Saturday afternoon. She also shot the pretty cirrus unicus clouds Friday afternoon.

Sundogs are a fun optical effect. They are also known as parahelia, or mock suns. They are formed when sunlight is refracted as it passes through flat ice crystals that are falling in the upper levels of the atmosphere above 20,000 feet.

Refraction is the splitting of light into its various component colors. It is what happens in a prism. A sundog is the result when sunlight passes through cirrus or cirrostratus clouds at the right angle.

Sundogs are related to halos and sun pillars.

Thanks for sharing Kathy! Check out for Flickr feed as well.

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