The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-02-03
THREE SUNS IN THE SKY.
Two Mock Planets Seen Du ring the
storm in New York

I New York Feb. Sin the beautiful
4~mist-obscured sky an extraordinary
( optical phenomenon was visible here
Yesterday afternoon. Three brightly
flaming suns were suddenly visible. the
Two additional ones beino sun dogs
/ rarely seen in these ATTITUDES. and
I known to men of science as parheIia
/ o" mOci suns
/ There was formed about the sun a
great misty circle, darkest at it's outer
( rim. The circle was surrounded by a
fiery halo. glowing with prismatic col
ors, in which an angry red predominant
ed In the interior. 1t extended from the
h"rlZon half way To the zenith
On the outer edge of the circle Of
mist. parallel with the sun and to the
right and left of it. appeared two sun
does. The mock suns were but half as
bright as the real sun. though OF the
same size and surrounded. as vas the
great planet. with glowing halos
This extraordinary srectacle was first
observed at 800 o'clock in the after
noon. The three suns Were plainly Wis
ibie from the buildings in Herald
square and even from Broadway. and
attracted great deal of attention.
From the disk OF the sun. which was
obscured by a faint veil. there wavered
pointed rays. \ horizontal shaft Of
tlSht connected the two mock suns
with the planet itself At the edges
where the sun dogs appeared the cir
Gle was touched by flaming red
streaks.
For more than an hour the phcnome-
non lasted, the apparitions watering.
now dim. now brilliant. and then sud
denly uiaE amino
ness. Cirrus clouds dTfftad above the
gerat circle. in nowise. however diD1in-
lShinS the diStinctness Of the true and
mock planets
Gradually the sun dog on the right
faded into the misty sky. but the on
on the left maintained its shane long
afterWard. There was no gradual fad
ing OF the entire phenomenon. however.
The dark circle and its fiery belt WAY
cred and shone. disappearing al times
and darting into being again. after the
manner Of the aurora boreaIis. The
sun Dog seen on the left lasted for more
than two hours
Meteorological experts said that the
sun dogs We're similar to those seen in
hlSher ATTITUDES. or in the Arctic re-
elons. where they are more remarkable. .
ihey ascribe their appearance here
to moisture in the upper regions Of .
atmosphere. Only a slight fan i'm The
barometer was observed while the sun
dogs manifested themselves
Following Is the scientific explanation .
of the phenomenon: Halos are formed
from the refraCtion and reflection of
the rays of light by the minute snow
crystals of the cirrus cloud AT the
points Of intersection Of the circles of
the halo images of the sun generally
appear from the light concentrated al
these points, the images being called
parhelia, or mock suns. Although pom
ular superstition connects such phe
nomena with dire meteorological or ter
restrial disturbances. the sun dogs did
not necessarily indicate an immediate
or very radical change in the local
weather
Mock suns. the experts explained.
had no very decided connection with
he last blizzard. Very often the mock
suns precede a sort of breaking up Of
The weather or the arrival of storms
II cannot, however. be absolutely Dre-
1icted that a gale will ensue at the
1lace where the phenomenon was visit
Die. Yet 1t is usually supposed that il
indicates bad weather