Driving home last Friday, I noticed what looked like a rainbow in the Western sky. It was much brighter in one spot, and I couldn't believe there weren't more people reacting to it. This phenomenon remained in my view the whole drive, and I pulled over several times to attempt a better shot. I think this event was visible for about 45 minutes! I couldn't wait to get home to show the kids, even though it might be hard to see through the trees at that time. I didn't know how to explain it to my Spanish speaking neighbors, except to point and say arco-iris (rainbow), even though I was sure this was something special, and not a common rainbow.
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At one point, I pulled into a gas station and stood in the shadow of their big sign to capture the image without the sun's glare. People looked at me kind of funny until they saw what I was aiming for. The attendant even came outside to find out what was going on.
It is not a rainbow, but a sun dog. I think this was the first time I ever saw one. I sure am glad to have captured a few images!
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http://www.atoptics.co.uk/rainbows/notabow.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/ice/sd.rxml
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12 comments:
i do not remember ever seeing a sun dog before. glad you shared it!
a sun dog? at first, I thought you were kidding but then I looked it up on Google. a sun dog indeed - I never heard of such a thing.
That's why I read your blog, it's a treasure trove of information...that I'll probably never use. :-)
well whaddya know. i learned something too.
very cool! I wondered what that was - but just chalked it up to a greasy smear on my windshield!
NaNcY according to one of the sites I visited for information, you might see two per year if you look carefully. Since I have started taking pictures of the sky, my eyes will scan above the horizon more frequently these days.
I'm glad you looked it up, ESI. Pretty cool, isn't it?
I hope you get to see one of these, Lime. Or maybe even a halo... it looks like a rainbow encircling the sun!
Halfmom, your windshield smears are prettier than mine! Was somebody pressing her face against the glass?
You know that if I try such a thing, it might resemble a hound dog more than a sun dog. ;-)
Very cool!
Believe it or not I saw the same thing here in FLorida-I thought I was seeing things!
a SUN-DOG-NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE, BU WILL LOOK INTO FURTHER- i'M OLD TO LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY lol
For some reason, I tend to see alot of these, especially when driving around the Washington beltway. I look up, and there it is, or should I say, there they are. When I see them, there are one on either side of the sun. Didn't know that they were sun dogs though.
I've never seen one - it is gorgeous.
Congrats on a great catch.
I love sun dogs. I wonder why you haven't seen one before. Anyway, they are the coolest things, but yours was a good one. They are no always so vivid in color. Glad you saw one! Now you're hooked!
Craver: I've read about these but only have seen them in photos, nice capture.
I've never seen or heard of a sundog before. That's amazing! Now I have to go look it up and see why that happens. :-) Would love to see one for myself!
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