LAFAYETTE, La. (KADN) — Across Acadiana this week, you may have noticed some weird rings and shapes around the sun. Some of you at home even snapped some pictures wondering what they are. Earlier this week we explained what sun halos are. But what is a sun dog? That’s a good question.
Have you ever looked up in the sky and noticed a strange glow next to the sun, which sometimes looks like a tiny rainbow? Karen Thibodeaux sent us a photo that looks like there are two suns. It’s a pretty cool phenomenon known as a sun dog.
If you recall, earlier this week, we showed you a sun halo, a ring of light around the sun caused by the refraction of light particles around ice crystals. Light enters the crystal and is refracted at 22 degrees in all directions, leading to a ring around the sun. Most folklore associate this with rain on the way soon.
A sun dog is very similar. The light is also refracted 22 degrees, but in this case, almost all of the light is focused on one spot, similar to holding a magnifying glass up to sunlight. This can create a “false sun” appearance on either side of the actual sun. These sun dogs can also have color, like miniature rainbows.
So, why are they called sun dogs? According to experts, it is of “obscure origin.” We don’t really know. Some believe it derives from the word “dog” meaning to “to hunt” as in we have to “hunt the fake sun” or sun dog. Others think it could be from mythology about wolves hunting the sun and moon.
Regardless of the name, they also are rumored to precede rain, which unfortunately is not the case for us. Our forecast remains dry as our drought continues to worsen.
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