Did You See the Sun Dogs on Wednesday?

Sundogs visible in the sky yesterday inspired many locals to briefly take their hand out of their glove to snap some pics.

Sundogs require a clear, sunny sky, but what generates this visual phenomenon of physics?

As Meteorologist Terri Lang with Environment and Climate Change Canada explained, we only see sundogs when it's cold outside, because they're only visible in the presence of ice crystals in the air.

"And, the ice crystals have to be falling for the sundogs to be seen," she noted. "So, often, like, even in the summer, we can see halos around the sun, and those are the presence of ice crystals, but they're differently shaped, and that's why you get an entire halo around it."

She said those ice crystals are about 30,000 feet up in the air, so it's kind of like a rainbow but with ice crystals. 

"It's kind of like the sunlight reflecting through the ice crystals as they fall," she explained. "That happens with raindrops when raindrops are falling."

Sundogs are also called 'perihelia', meaning false sun'.

"Sun dogs at either side of the sun, sometimes you see one above as well, so it looks a little bit different, but you have to be looking towards the sun to be able to see them." 

Rainbows, on the other hand, can't be seen while facing the sun.