                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 February 15

                             Parhelia at Abisko
                  Image Credit & Copyright: Felipe Menzella

   Explanation: Three suns seem to hug the horizon in this otherworldly
   winterscape. But the evocative scene was captured during a February 3rd
   snowmobile exploration of the mountainous region around Abisko National
   Park, northern Sweden, planet Earth. The two bright spots on either
   side of Earth's Sun are parhelia (singular parhelion), also known as
   mock suns or sun dogs. The parhelia are caused by hexagonal ice
   crystals suspended in the hazy atmosphere that reflect and refract
   sunlight. Commonly seen in winter and at high latitudes, the bright
   parhelia lie along the visible 22 degree ice halo of the Sun.

                    Tomorrow's picture: swooping jupiter
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