Bright, colored areas of light beside the Sun are known as sun dogs (sometimes written as one word: sundogs). They’re often approximately 22 degrees to the left or the right (or both!) and about the same distance above the Horizon as the Sun. They’re also often seen as part of a ring or Halo around the Sun. Sun dogs form when there are hexagonal ice crystals in high, cold cirrus Clouds. They can also form when ice crystals float in the air during extremely cold weather. Although sun dogs are more common when cold weather brings ice crystals into the Atmosphere. They can occur anywhere in the world any time there are cirrus clouds.
The sun dog phenomenon can also occur at night when the Moon is nearly full and particularly bright. These moon dogs, or paraselenae, aren’t seen nearly as often as sun dogs, because the conditions necessary for their formation don’t happen very frequently.
