Caught on film the 3rd of June in northern Idaho, the above phenomenon (not technically a “rainbow”; often called a “sundog” or “parhelion”) is caused by light passing through high-altitude cirrus clouds containing plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals facing parallel to the earth’s surface.
ARTICLE
IMAGE [larger version]
ARTICLE [Sundog, Parhelion]
IMAGES [more examples photographed by Todd Sackmann]
LINK/IMAGES [more examples, scroll to bottom of post]
IMAGES [Flickr pool of atmospheric phenomena]
Previously on CN:
LINK [Surfing the Morning Glory]
User
The Conversation {6 comments}
I thought a sundog was a halo around the sun caused by similiar hexagon shaped ice crystals at high altitudes.
I saw something similiar to this (not as vibrant) about two weeks ago and was wondering what it was called, but I don’t think it’s called a sundog as I’ve seen plenty of those during the summer here in Calgary.
Now I must find out what it’s called. Perhaps it’s the same thing, but I’ll find out for sure.
Beautiful photo nevertheless!
Ahh, I found my answer…in the linked article at National Geographic. Sweetness.
I have never seen anything like this before. Its so much better than normal rainbows. Id like to see this inspire some cool art pieces. Stray away from the normal canvas or clay and see some cool glass or ice fixtures!
this is what would be called Iridescence. A “sun dog” is when a “mirror” sun appears on either side of the real sun.
I saw one of these for the first time about 15 years ago. No internet then and no idea where to look in the library. Well my persistence has paid off and my curiosity is now satisfied..Lovely pic though. ta!!
Beautiful photo….
Isn’t it amazing that “DEATH” can be made to look so pretty. Do an online search for the terms: “chemtrails” and “chembows”….the truth is out there!
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