Sun dog

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/sun-dog

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the optical mechanism?Refraction of sunlight by horizontally oriented hexagonal plate-shaped ice crystals
2. What is the associated cloud types?Commonly observed in cirrus and cirrostratus clouds
3. Why do sun dogs have colors?The ice crystals split the light into colors, so the inner side shows red and the outer side shows blue or violet.
4. When is the best time to see a sun dog?Sun dogs look best when the sun is low, below about 20 degrees above the horizon, because the light passes through the ice crystals more.

Parhelion: The scientific term for a sun dog, a bright spot of light adjacent to the sun.
Hexagonal plate crystals: Ice crystals with a six-sided, flat shape that are crucial for forming sun dogs.
Atmospheric optics: The study of visual phenomena caused by the interaction of light with the atmosphere.
Refraction angle: The specific degree to which light bends when passing through a medium like ice crystals.