[Aztlan] Sun Dogs & Moonbows

[Scott]

On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 11:46:59AM -0800, Bruce Rogers wrote:
> 
> Part of the reason such effects do occur is because the transparency 
> of the ice crystals allows refraction of the sun light.  Generally 
> dust, unless it is made of crystalline, transparent material, would 
> not optically behave in the same way to produce this effect.
> 

Back in the '70s or '80s, Scientific American magazine had a nice
article on various parhelic manifestations, detailing the physics
governing them.  Including the subsolar pillar which is pretty
awesome, if rare. One of you academic types with access to a real
library could probably dig up a reference. Not that it has much to do
with this list, but hey.... If you want to see a picture of what
sundogs and a subsolar pillar look like in Montana, you may visit
<http://www.harvestview.com/tdy/070202.htm>

Scott Swanson