Sucker for Sundogs

Good atmospheric effects like company. When I see the clouds favorable to sundogs, sun pillars, arcs in the morning, the remainder of the day and into the evening often offer similar effects. This isn't surprising because the effects are caused by weather and a specific type of weather conducive to these effects may last more than a day. 

On March 5, 2014, I noticed sun arcs at noon:

Sun arc taken at 28 mm focal length

Sun arc zoomed in (70 mm focal length)

That evening I watched for more effects as I drove home. I was travelling, or else I would have tried to capture the unusual clouds to the west. At the same time, two friends from the Temecula Valley Astronomers were watching, one from Temecula, the other from Anza. Each had a better view that what I had. Here is what they saw:

Sun pillar by Harry Finch

Based on the photo, this was an impressive sun pillar (which is caused by ice crystals refracting the sun light in such a way that the light is spread out vertically).

A similar pattern occurred yesterday: interesting cloud effects in the morning, and good sundogs at evening:

Contrails on the morning of March 20

Right sundog on evening of March 20

Left sundog on evening of March 20

Both sundogs with the sun blocked by the tree

If you see something interesting in the morning, it's a reminder to get your camera and keep it with you for the day. 

jg