Sundogs, Phenomenon of the Four Suns in the Riau Islands

News24xx.com -  Less than a week ago netizens were shocked by the four sun phenomenon seen in the Riau Islands region (Kepri). It is a natural phenomenon where the sun which is the center of the solar system is only one that looks like there are four.

Quoting social media accounts, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Sundog or Mock Sun or the Phantom Sun are natural phenomena that commonly occur. However, it was admitted that it was rare in Indonesia.

Sundog is an optical phenomenon that shows bright spots in the sky, and often on halo rings around the sun.

"Sundog appears as a beam of colored light on the left and right of the Sun, spaced 22 ° and at the same distance above the horizon, and on the halo ice. Sundog can be seen anywhere and at any time of the season, but does not always look radiant and bright and will "It looks clear and bright when the Sun looks low," said an explanation broadcast on the @infobmkg Instagram account on Sunday (10/14) night.

Generally, the sundog itself is created from hexagon-shaped ice crystals on high and cold siren clouds, or during very cold winters. Furthermore, by ice crystals called diamond dust blown into the air.

"The crystals function as prisms, deflecting the light passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22 °. If the crystals are randomly oriented, then the circle around the Sun will be seen, namely halo. When the crystals sink into the air and are arranged vertically , then the sun's light is refracted horizontally. In this case, sundog can be seen, "continued the information on the BMKG account.

As the Sun rises, the light passing through the crystals is more inclined from the flat plane. Their deviation angle increases and the sundog moves away from the Sun.
"So it always looks at the same height as the Sun," concluded the information from the BMKG account.

Meanwhile, quoting from the site Sky and Telescope, Rick Fienberg which is part of the American Astronomy Society said the naming of the loggers on the phenomenon had occurred since the early 1600s. So, he continued, it is not known exactly why the phenomenon was called sundog.

"There are a number of books and sites about atmospheric phenomena, but none of them as far as I have checked again said something why the phenomenon of parhelia is called sundogs," he wrote on the site.