Moon Dogs Research Paper

Paragraph 2: What are sun and moon dogs? A moon dog is a relatively rare bright circular spot on a lunar halo caused by the refraction of moonlight. A sundog is also known as mock suns or “parhelia”, are a pair of brightly colored spots, one on either side of the sun. Sun dogs form as sunlight is refracted by hexagonal- plate like ice crystals with diameters larger than 30 micrometer and their flat faces horizontally oriented. By day, with the sun, one of these phenomena (fa-nom-a-nin) is called a parhelion, or sun dog. By night, it is called a paraselene (para-se-lenie) or moon dog. You will be able to see a moon dog when you see high, thin, cirrus (ci-rr-us) clouds near the moon. While some people may think of golden retrievers or dachshund …show more content…
They go by many names including ice halos, snow bows, mock suns, phantom suns, or parhelia (the scientific name). The scientific name comes from the Greek word parēlion, meaning “beside the sun.” They occur when sunlight is refracted from ice crystals. The hexagonal shape to ice crystals in the atmosphere act like a prism, refracting and bending the sun’s rays in a horizontal fashion creating the small rainbows.They occur when sunlight is refracted from ice crystals. The hexagonal shape to ice crystals in the atmosphere act like a prism, refracting and bending the sun’s rays in a horizontal fashion creating the small rainbows. They are most commonly seen on very cold days, when there are more ice crystals present in the atmosphere, and at sunrise or sunset when the sun is lower on the horizon.While sun dogs are most common on very cold days, they can happen anywhere and during any time of the year as long as ice crystals are present in the atmosphere, whether suspended in very cold air or in existing in high cirrus