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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Sundog!

When David and I went down to the barn to feed this morning, we were thrilled to see a sundog, or parhelion.

7 a.m., 14F(-10C)
 
 
Paraphrasing Wikipedia, a sundog is formed in very cold weather by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low levels.  As the crystals sink through the air, they become vertically aligned.  Sundogs are red-colored at the side nearest the sun.
 
I've only seen a few sundogs, and they thrill me every time.  I never expected to see one in May.  Hmm, so there's an upside to doing chores at 14 degrees, even in May. 
 
Believe it or not, the day warmed up quickly, and it was actually a pretty darn nice day.
 

14 comments:

Mary said...

Wow! That's really neat! I've never heard of a sud dog before. But brrrr! 14 degrees? That's cold. We had a little frost the other day, but it was nothing like that. Wonderful photos!

Oak Creek Ranch said...

Very cool! I've never heard of sun dogs before and certainly have never seen one.

in2paints said...

I have never seen one of those before! It's quite striking for sure... but I can't get over the fact that it's May and it was only 14 degrees outside!!

Zanzibah Alpacas said...

Beautiful sight ... Ive never heard of a 'Sundog' its a great description.... mind you, looks freezing and its still really cold here too ....but not that cold !! Jayne

Kay G. said...

I have seen those sundogs, but only in the winter! I just looked the info on them this past year, before that I always called them winter rainbows. I still like my name for them too.
14 degrees, wow that's incredible.
Warm clothing is important, am I right? :-)

Cricket said...

And for the first time in eight weeks there is no storm predicted for next Wednesday. Yay!!!

Jim said...

Amazing, Terry! Have not heard of these Sundogs. And you were there to capture it! Love that last shot with the fencing 'lines'....really good one!

Mary Ann said...

Gosh! I had not heard of these, Terry... I am so glad you showed us and know I'm going to go look them up! How cool!

John Going Gently said...

Big beautiful skies x

fromsophiesview said...

How exciting to see this sundog and to take a picture of it. I have never seen one before. I don`t know if they occur here or not. I think I`ll do some research.

Ron

Joe Bauman said...

Now Terry, Don't stare at the sun, even through a viewfinder. Love, Joe

Ruth said...

Wow!!
It must be amazingly cold though.

Optimistic Existentialist said...

Oh wow they look like rainbows! So beautiful!!

Dreaming said...

You caught a lovely shot! Yes, morning chores can have their upside!