Two suns side by side: Almaty residents captured a rare sky phenomenon

Tengrinews.kz — A rare phenomenon — two suns in the sky — was observed by residents of Almaty on the evening of March 12. A meteorologist explained what this anomaly was.
The sunset on March 12 presented Almaty residents with an incredible natural spectacle: the sky was painted in vivid red and yellow colors, and crowning this entire palette were two suns at once.
Photo by Tengrinews.kz reader
What this interesting phenomenon was was explained by Vitaly Salnikov, a research professor at the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

“The photographs captured a parhelion, from the Greek meaning ‘false sun.’ It is one of the brightest types of solar halo. Although it looks like an optical illusion or a double of the sun, the nature of the phenomenon is purely physical,” the professor explains.

Photo by Tengrinews.kz reader
The mechanics of the process are as follows: in frosty air or in thin cirrus clouds at high altitude, microscopic ice crystals in the shape of hexagonal plates form. As these crystals settle in the air, they align horizontally, acting like tiny lenses.

“Sunlight enters one face of the crystal and exits through another, refracting at an angle of 22 degrees. As a result, we see a bright patch of light at the same height above the horizon as the real sun,” Salnikov says.

Photo by Tengrinews.kz reader
The professor adds that wintertime Almaty is an ideal place for such effects.

“Right now, the city is experiencing frosty weather with high humidity. In the lower layers of the atmosphere, what is known as diamond dust, or a suspension of ice needles, forms. It is these particles that split the sunlight, creating the effect of a rainbow-like glow around the false sun,” he says.

Salnikov noted that a parhelion is an absolutely safe and incredibly beautiful natural phenomenon that once again reminds us how complex and fascinating the atmosphere is.