Heidenheim Sundogs

October 13, 2008

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Photographer: Unknown
Summary Author: Unknown

I couldn’t help but notice these exquisite parhelia over Heidenheim, Germany as the Sun was about to set on April 27, 2008. If high altitude clouds such as these cirrus are nearby the Sun, parhelia (sundogs) may be observed when plate shaped ice crystals are aligned with their flat faces horizontal. Sunlight enters a side-face of these hexagonal crystals and then exits through an opposite side-face.