Whats going on in Venice ?

[Dobbs (Anthony)]

Hi guys

I was in Venice with my family last October and noticed this in the sky.

It was about a full handspan from the sun and about an hour later appeared equidistant on the opposite side.

Light reflecting off high cloud/ice crystals ?

Thanks

Anthony

[ngcles]

Hi Dobbs,

It is almost certainly a "Parhelion" which ae sometimes known as "Sun-Dogs". They are caused, as you guessed, by ice crystals and sunlight.

This Wikipedia page gives a good basic explaination and contains some similar photos to yours.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog

Nice catch with the photo!

Best,

Les D
Contributing Editor
AS&T

[Moonboy (Gus)]

I've never seen that before, great picture.
I have to save this one.
Keep up the good work.
Gus

[Dobbs (Anthony)]

Thanks Les and you too Moonboy.

I expected the answer to be boring but was I wrong.

I caught a Sun-dog. Thats great coz Venice was crap.

Thanks again

Anthony