sun dogs


sun dogs

Two bright, diffuse patches of light occasionally seen in the daytime sky, one each side of the Sun, and caused by refraction of the Sun's light by hexagonal ice crystals in the atmosphere. Each one is tinged red on the side near the Sun and blue on the other side. Sun dogs often appear on the fringe of a halo around the Sun, each one being separated from the Sun by an angular distance of 22°.