We
were reading a piece that mentioned a Sun Dog (also spelled Sundog). That was
when I learned my wise old grandfather had mislead me about these critters way…way…back
when I was a child. All these years, a Sun Dog to me has been a bright ring
around the sun, sometime with some color to it, but sometimes not. Someone else
described it as a rainbow ring around a very watery appearing sun. But most of
the class considered a Sun Dog to occur when two suns appeared side-by-side
(one being the actual sun; the other, the dog). I was challenged by the class to
look up the phenomenon. So I did.
It
seems that all three versions have some elements of truth.
 |
| A Sun Halo |
First,
my grandfather’s version. The Huffington Post Science section posted a piece on
the most common event of this nature called a 22Áo halo…or, more
commonly the 22 Degree halo. Ergo, a SUN HALO. Citing the US Department of the
Interior, they term this a type of Sun Dog.
Next,
the watery appearing or shimmery sun with a ring around it.
 |
| A Mock Sun |
Page 119 of the
Fourth Edition of the DESCRIPTIONARY, A Thematic Dictionary, describes a
MOCK SUN as “a false image of the sun, often watery in appearance formed by the
refraction or bending of light by hexagonal crystals of ice in the air. Also
known as a sun dog.”
 |
| Sun Dog over South Dakota |
Finally,
what appears to be the more commonly held understanding of a SUN DOG, a double
(but it can be a triple) image of the sun appearing at approximately 22 degrees
of separation on either side of the sun (or on both sides in the case of a
triple) when the proper kind of ice crystals are present and aligned properly to
refract the light.
Sun
Dogs are technically called parhelia (meaning “with the
sun). The plural for the event is parhelion. Note the following diagram:
 |
| Diagram of a Sun Dog |
Sun
Dogs can be seen anywhere in the world at any time of the year, but they are
most common in fall, winter, and early spring when there are the proper
climactic conditions with “diamond dust,” as a certain kind of ice crystal is
called, is in the air. The same conditions can produce MOON DOGS (paraselenae),
but these are less commonly observed as they most often occur when the majority
of us are sleeping
Sun
Dogs in History:
Aristotle
noted that “two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day
until sunset.”
The
Greek didactic poet, Aratus (ca 315-240 BC) mentions parhelia as a part
of his catalogue of Weather Signs, claiming they can indicate rain or warn of
approaching storms.
The
Roman philosopher Cicero referred to sun dogs and similar events in his Republic
(54-51 BC).
Seneca,
the Roman Stoic, speaks of them in the first book of his Naturales
Quaestiones.
Sun
dogs are said to have had an effect on England’s War of the Roses. Three such
suns appeared before the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross in Herefordshire, England
in 1461. The future King Edward IV supposedly convinced his frightened troops
that this represented the Holy Trinity. Edward’s troops won a decisive victory.
The depiction of this event appears in William’s Shakespeare’s King Henry
VI.
A
set of powerful parhelia in Rome in the summer of 1624 caused
René Descartes to interrupt his metaphysical studies and led to his work of
natural philosophy called The World.
American nature-essayist
Hal Borland’s Sundial of the Seasons had
this to say about them: “Sun dogs and moon dogs are beautiful accents to a
winter day or night as the rainbow is to a showery summer day.”
There
it is: more than you ever wanted to know about Sun Dogs…and a partial
vindication of my grandfather.
Next week: Will we ever
get to the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness?
New posts are published at
6:00 a.m. each Thursday.
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