Sunsets can be one of the most beautiful sights of the day, especially here in the Roanoke Valley with the Blue Ridge Mountains cradling the setting sun. Walter and I have photographed hundreds of red, orange, and yellow sunsets, but last Friday brought us a special treat.

Walter captured a “second sun” in the sky to the right of the setting sun. With a little research, we discovered that we’d seen a sun dog, or mock sun, also called a parhelion in atmospheric science. Sun dogs are part of the rainbow family caused by the refraction of sunlight from ice crystals in the clouds and often appear to the right and left of the setting sun connected by a halo around the sun. The sighting of a sun dog usually means a change in the weather, and sure enough, it rained on Saturday. If we had known what we were looking at, we would have taken a lot more photos of this amazing atmospheric phenomenon.     

Sunset symbolizes the end of the day and the opportunity to rest. Watching the sun set is said to be relaxing and may reduce stress in your life. Plus, no two sunsets are the same. The colors and patterns are unique to the atmospheric conditions at the time. The way the sun’s light interacts with the atmosphere and clouds determines the colors we see in the sky. The most vivid colors may appear at twilight, just after the sun has slid below the horizon.

Some folks say the sunrise is their daily joy, but for those of us who like to sleep late in the morning and stay up half the night, sunset is our favorite visual spectacle.           

Speaking of staying up half the night, Walter and I managed to stay awake to watch the lunar eclipse at three o’clock Friday morning. We saw the bright, white full moon turn to an orange orb as the sun’s rays illuminating the moon were blocked by the earth—a truly amazing sight.