Meet the Sun Dog. Not one of our four-legged friends, but an ice rainbow. The technical term for these is 'parhelia'. They are more common in arctic regions (which is something of a warning for the weather this week… brrrr), and occur where the edge of the sun's 22 degree halo meets ice crystals. These refract the light and cause the rainbow effect even though there's not a drop of rain in sight. A proper technical explanation can be found at the Hyperphysics site
Apparently they are easier to spot when the sun is low in the sky, and you have to be facing towards the sun to see them so they can be difficult to see if it's too bright. Fortunately they are some way off the direct line of sunlight, so you aren't risking your eyesight in photographing them if you do see one. I was facing west (as you would be at the end of the day), and the Sun Dog appeared some distance to the south (left) of the sun.
Sun Dog's aren't that uncommon, so I presume I must have seen one before but just not noticed it as anything special. So I'm claiming this as a personal first. Scanning the sky with the camera has made me much more aware of the conditions around me (especially light) so it's great to see something new. By the way, on the subject of light: I hate grey dull days (no contrast and slow shutter speeds). I like the early morning and late afternoon sun (great for under-lighting birds in flight). I'm not keen on very harsh bright days (too much contrast).
SittingFox
18 Mar 2007Fascinating observation :up: and thanks for the information.
I certainly agree with you about light levels. I discovered some time ago that I prefer photographing in grasslands rather than forests for the same reason. The Smokies' forests were very dark, and although the human eye compensated well the camera was a little less cooperative.
Flying Red Fox Blog
18 Mar 2007Wow Words i have always wanted to know what that strange thing was, thanks for the information:D I have seen it before and was mystified by it and called it a piece of rainbow lol:P
I saw some snow clouds developing along the coast, it looks like your area is gonna get a covering and i might just miss it but we will know tomorrow.
Words
18 Mar 2007We've had some too, but turned back to rain for now.
SittingFox
18 Mar 2007It's snowing up here already! :eyes:
Flying Red Fox Blog
19 Mar 2007No snow here which is good really, Winter is gone and Summer is getting closer:D
gdare
19 Mar 2007Well, I've never seen something like this. Maybe I'm too south for it…
🙂
ALLY_G
23 Mar 2007That is a very interesting post for me. Thank you for your detailed report. :up:
Because: I found such a "phenomenon" in Oktober 2006 and I took some photos. But I never heard before the name Sun Dog or Parhelia. I didn't know, what I've found at the sky and therefore, I didn't wrote about it.
Words
24 Mar 2007@Elke. I'm glad it was useful. :up: