the.com/sun dog
A rainbow's shy cousin that only shows up when it's freezing and showing off.
means A bright, often colorful spot of light that appears beside the sun, caused by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in the atmosphere.
from The term dates to at least the 1600s, from English folk speech — the glowing spot was imagined as a 'dog' trotting alongside its master, the sun, across the sky. The mythological link runs deeper: in some old traditions, dogs were seen as companions or attendants to sun gods, which may have fed the name. The scientific term, 'parhelion,' comes from Greek 'para' (beside) and 'helios' (sun) — literally 'beside the sun' — a tidier but far less charming twin to the folksy original.
- real name
- parhelion, from Greek for beside the sun
- cause
- ice crystals in cirrus clouds bending sunlight
- best viewing
- cold mornings, sun low near horizon
- myth origin
- folklore linked them to dogs guarding the sun