Parhelion

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɑːˈhiː.lɪ.ən/

Definitions

1. An optical phenomenon occurs when bright spots, commonly known as sun dogs, form on either side of the sun due to the refraction of light through ice crystals in the atmosphere
2. This term represents luminous spots adjacent to the sun, created by the bending of light through atmospheric ice crystals that produce the effect of sun dogs
3. A phenomenon characterized by bright features appearing on either side of the sun, produced by the refraction of sunlight through ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere

Etymology: A parhelion is a bright spot of light that appears on the same halo ring as the sun, typically to one side of it, produced by sunlight refracting through ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. The Greek compound "parḗlion" put together "pará", meaning "beside" or "alongside", and "hḗlios", meaning "sun". The name describes exactly what observers see: a second sun standing next to the real one. The Greeks had the word first, and it passed into Latin as "parelion" before reaching English. Its meaning has stayed remarkably close to the original, which is unusual for a word that describes an optical phenomenon. The sense that is sometimes called a "mock sun" is a later English gloss on the same idea, so the word itself carries no more than the plain description of a sun beside the sun.