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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

You Learn Something New Every Day

Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, yesterday's mediocre photo of a rainbow/icebow has become a decent photo of a sun dog!
A sun dog, or parhelion, is an atmospheric phenomenon of an ice crystal halo around the sun.  Way cool!  Many thanks to IanH, who lives way up North in Alberta, Canada, (click here) for setting me straight.  And thanks to CountryDreaming and Dreaming.

Now I wish I had looked at the big picture of the sky, instead of just looking toward the barn.  But hey, it was -18F and I was c-c-c-cold.  I wonder if the halo was more complete, like this photo on the Internet -

I'm a little embarrassed.  My father was a meteorologist, so you'd think I'd know about sun dogs.  And my brother Joe writes an astronomy blog for the Deseret News (click here).  Here's my favorite photo of  Joe -
He was out in the Utah desert with his telescope and laptop.  The photo was taken by his friend.

21 comments:

Sharon said...

I was thinking maybe it was but not sure. The full picture is awesome! I would like to see the sky like the picture your brother is in, so much light pollution and other pollution around here, you are lucky if you can spot the constellations!

Janet said...

Wow ! love that last photo with your brother -what a fantastic shot !

JJ said...

How cool!! I've never heard of a Sun Dog either...beautiful!

Dreaming said...

I've got goosebumps from the photo of Joe in the desert (or maybe its because it is still below 0 out?!). I love the laptop glow lighting him up and the lighting around the telescope. The incongruity of 'desert' and 'technology' are very cool.
Many, many years ago we saw sun dogs one day when we were skiing. (That was my intro to the phenomenon.) The old farmers said it meant we were going to have a big storm. Sure enough, the storm was the blizzard of '69 - we didn't get home for 4 days. Much of NY was closed down.
You are excused from not seeing the 'big picture'. First of all, sometimes the other side isn't visible. Secondly, if you were like me, I had the hood of my parka cinched down and I was running between barn and house. I'm amazed that you stopped to take a picture. Did you have to take your gloves off? If so, surprising that the camera didn't stick to your fingers! ;-)

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

What incredible photos!
Your Hanoverian is gorgeous, by the way. I'm sure you know that ;-)

Louise said...

Gaaaa, forgot to verify. I thought that might have happened. Sometimes, I get going too fast, hit the post button and go on my way. Then, I can't remember if I verified or not.

Anyway, thanks for teaching me about sun dogs. It's my new thing for the day. And, the picture of your brother is wonderful, with all of its contrasts.

Jim said...

Now I know a little more about icebows and will keep my eyes open for them.
Fantastic shot of your brother 'in his element', Terry.

Karen said...

Amazing photos! I had no idea what a sun dog was. :-)

in2paints said...

You know, when I looked at the picture yesterday I thought, "The curve on that rainbow looks funny... almost like it's backwards or something." How cool that it's a sun dog! I must admit, I've never heard of such a thing, but it was cool reading about it! :)

Very cool pictures!

Lori Skoog said...

WOW....never heard of a sun dog. I agree, that picture of your brother out on the desert is something.

Did you warm up a little?

Tracey said...

I've learned something too!!! WOW! xxx

fromsophiesview said...

Now I know about sun dogs...no relation I guess! PS tks for the birthday best wishes! Cheers!

Dom said...

I had never heard of a sun dog. How very, very cool.

John Going Gently said...

stunning!

Rising Rainbow said...

Sun dog, huh?? Who knew? Very interesting.

The picture of your brother in the desert is cool too.

Lorac said...

I love seeing sundogs. I captured a strange one here. http://ahhhthecottagelife.blogspot.com/2011/01/sunset-and-sundog.html
Usually closer to the sun, but not always.

sandy said...

wow, fantastic photos. My BIL worked for Griffith Observatory - he would share all kinds of great facts and photos with us.

Ashley Ashbee said...

Until now, I don't think I'd ever seen this sun dog phenomenon -- not even in pictures. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing it and a bit of yourself and the science too!

Inger said...

Wow! I'm silenced once again by the wonders of nature.--Inger

Lori Skoog said...

Terry...glad you like the note cards. You were my first customer. Thank you!

allhorsestuff said...

AMazing!
Very cool shots and the one with the stars -is gorgeous!