A sundog is a halo that maintains a 22 degree distance from the sun on one or both sides. Best time of day to be seen is at the horizon line during sunrise or sundown. The phenomenon is created by a refraction of the sun’s light on ice crystals. Also known as “parhelion” (plural: parhelia), Greek derivatives of “para” meaning beside and “helios” meaning sun. Another name is mock sun(s).
As interesting as this atmospheric phenomenon is, I still prefer the more common sundog seen pictured below. She’s my favorite walking buddy most of the time, except on days when she wants to sniff every blade of grass.
More to explore: Atmospheric Phenomena: Halos, Sundogs and Light Pillars (timeanddate.com)
Do you have a sun-loving fuzzy friend?
Show me your Sundog, Suncat, Sunllama, Sunfox,…
aw, so cute
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Melanie. Wonderful! Love the picture of Daisy – a true picture of contentment. BTW – the “tree” people are coming this week. Yea! M
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Mary Reynolds forwarded this to me, as I have two dogs. I’ll be looking forward to your next interesting blog.
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Yes! I do have a sun dog who sniffs every blade of grass!!
Sx
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Are you willing to share a picture of your grass sniffer? I was hoping to see some cute pet pictures but alas, I’ve got not a one.
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I will see what I can do tomorrow!
Sx
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I agree. As spectacular as an atmospheric sundog is, they’re not very easy to cuddle.
I found an old photo of my sundogs – I hope it shows up okay as this is the first time I’ve tried adding an image to a WordPress comment:
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Thank you so much for sharing! They are absolutely adorable!
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interesting, and adorable!
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I’ve been seeing sun halos here that completely encircle the sun. They’re amazing to behold.
I love your four-footed sun dogs.
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Those must be pretty too!
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