X-Nico

5 unusual facts about sun dog


Sun dog

The Yorkist commander, later Edward IV of England, convinced his initially frightened troops that it represented the three sons of the Duke of York, and Edward's troops won a decisive victory.

The 2nd century Roman writer and philosopher Apuleius in his Apologia XV says "What is the cause of the prismatic colours of the rainbow, or of the appearance in heaven of two rival images of the sun, with sundry other phenomena treated in a monumental volume by Archimedes of Syracuse."

A set of powerful parhelia in Rome in the Summer of 1629 caused René Descartes to interrupt his metaphysical studies and led to his work of natural philosophy called "The World".

The prelude to the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire, England in 1461 is supposed to have involved the appearance of a complete parhelion with three "suns".

The phenomenon quickly resulted in rumours of an omen of God's forthcoming revenge on King Gustav Vasa (1496–1560) for having introduced Protestantism during the 1520s and for being heavy-handed with his enemies allied with the Danish king.


Parhelic circle

Even fractions of parhelic circles are less common than sun dogs and 22° halos.


see also

Tim Sample

He has also narrated many films and books on tape, including Robert McCloskey’s children's classic Burt Dow: Deep-Water Man, Stephen King’s The Sun Dog, and a reconstructed version of the 1930 documentary From Stump to Ship.