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Credit & Copyright: Juan Manuel PIrez Rayego
Explanation:
Have you ever seen a little rainbow off to the side of the Sun?
Rare but rewarding to see, such spectacles are known as sundogs,
mock suns or parhelia.
Sundogs are
just sunlight
refracting
through
hexagonal
falling ice crystals in the Earth's atmosphere.
When thin ice crystals flitter down nearly horizontally, they best
refract sunlight sideways and
create
sundogs.
Alternatively, randomly oriented ice crystals may create a
complete circular sun halo.
Sundogs occur 22 degrees to each
side of a setting or rising Sun, although sometimes nearby clouds can block one or
both.
The above image was taken through a
polarizing filter during October 2012 in
MIrida,
Spain.
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day