Sundogs Over Rochester

When driving around for work yesterday I noticed something kinda cool high in the skies of Rochester. Not super rare but pretty cool none the less. 

Take a look

So what are you looking at? Well it's called Sundogs! A sundog is a mock sun or parhelion, which consists of glowing spots around the sun. They are created by sunlight refracting off plate shaped ice crystals in the high cirrus clouds. Sundogs are some of the most frequently observed optical phenomena and can be observed throughout the year and anywhere in the world. They are also associated with 22-degree halos.

Sundogs tend to be most visible when the Sun is close to the horizon. I viewed them over Rochester around 8:30am or so. Which is why it's not super bright. The part of a sundog closest to the Sun tends to be red in color, while the areas further away from the Sun generally appear blue or green.

Light from the Moon also creates glowing spots on both sides of the Moon, called moondogs. Also known as mock moon or paraselene, moondogs are rarer than sundogs because they only occur when the Moon is full or close to being full.

Here is the same picture with arrows showing where the little sundogs are.

Now had I taken a picture earlier in the morning when the sun was right over the horizon, things would have looked much different. Brighter and more visible. Here is what it could have looked like below.

So not super rare but still cool to see. Just a little weather nugget to share with you all.

Have a great weekend bloggers. And get ready for some Superbowl Sunday time! Thank you for reading. Stay well.