ATMOSPHERIC OPTICS AND ROCK ART:

Sunrise over Lake Dillon, Colorado. Photograph Robbie Seibel,

14 March 2022.

This column revisits the subject of parhelia or sun dogs in rock art, prompted by a photograph by Robbie Seibel, taken 22 March 2022 over Lake Dillon, Colorado. This beautiful photograph shows a sun just on the horizon with a 22° halo and parhelia or ‘sun dogs.’ “Sun dogs (parhelia) are a particular type of ice halo which produces a colored patch to the left and right of the sun, 22 degrees or more distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun itself. Best seen and most conspicuous when the sun is low, they are not rainbows. The Blackfeet knew them as ‘when the sun paints his cheeks’”. (Faris 2009)

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County NM. Photograph Peter Faris, January 1998.

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County, NM. Photograph John and Esther Faris, December 1988.

“On October 21, 2009, I posted a column which I entitled The Sun Paints His Cheeks – Sun Dogs. In that posting I wrote that ‘Parhelia would be expected to be portrayed in rock art as a sun sign with two or more spots added outside the perimeter of the sun sign. This example, which can be found at the Three Rivers petroglyph site in New Mexico, consists of the normal southwestern concentric circle sun symbol surrounded by a ring of 16 dots which may represent multiple parhelia (with a little exaggeration thrown in). In his book Rare Halos, Mirages, and Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena, William Corliss presents examples of multiple sun dogs with examples of up to eight cited. I would expect that a rock artist who had observed such an example of multiple parhelia could be motivated to reproduce it as a sun symbol surrounded by many dots, as in this example.’(Faris 2009) These optical effects are caused by light from the sun refracting through ice crystals in the atmosphere, and depending upon the conditions, the display can be quite complicated.” (Faris 2014)

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County, NM. Photograph John and Esther Faris, December 1988.

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County, NM. Photograph John and Daphne Rudolph.

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County, NM. Photograph John and Esther Faris, December 1988.

“Sun dogs (parhelia) are a particular type of ice halo which produces a colored patch to the left and right of the sun, 22 degrees or more distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun itself. Best seen and most conspicuous when the sun is low, they are not rainbows. The Blackfeet knew them as ‘when the sun paints his cheeks’”. (Faris 2009)

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County NM. Photograph Peter Faris, January 1998.

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, Otero County, NM. Photograph John and Esther Faris, December 1988.

In rock art of the American Southwest there are numerous examples of the concentric circle sun sign with dots or spots encircling it. These are especially prevalent at the great Three Rivers Petroglyph Site in Otero County, New Mexico, with a number of variants present. As I stated above, if I were a First Peoples resident of the American Southwest and saw the atmospheric optical phenomenon in the photograph I expect that I would be tempted to recreate it on the rock for posterity, and this is what I assume happened at Three Rivers.

NOTE: The image of the atmospheric phenomena in this posting was copied from an entry placed on my Facebook page. I assume, therefore, that it was placed there with an intention to share it publicly. If this image was not intended to be public domain, I apologize. For further information on these reports you should read the originals at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Corliss, William R., 1984, Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies, Sourcebook, Glen Arm, Maryland.

Faris, Peter, 2014, Parhelia Revisited – More On Sun Dogs In Rock Art, 31 May 2014, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

Faris, Peter, 2013, A Weather Symbol In Rock Art, 28 September 2013, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

Faris, Peter, 2009, The Sun Paints His Cheeks – Sun Dogs, 21 October 2009, https://rockartblog.blogspot.com

PARHELIA REVISITED – MORE ON SUN DOGS IN ROCK ART:

Sun sign with possible multiple parhelia. Three Rivers,

New Mexico. Photograph: 1988, Jack and Esther Faris.

On October 21, 2009, I posted a column which I entitled The Sun Paints His Cheeks – Sun Dogs. In that posting I wrote that “Parhelia would be expected to be portrayed in rock art as a sun sign with two or more spots added outside the perimeter of the sun sign. This example, which can be found at the Three Rivers petroglyph site in New Mexico, consists of the normal southwestern concentric circle sun symbol surrounded by a ring of 16 dots which may represent multiple parhelia (with a little exaggeration thrown in). In his book Rare Halos, Mirages, and Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena, William Corliss presents examples of multiple sun dogs with examples of up to eight cited. I would expect that a rock artist who had observed such an example of multiple parhelia could be motivated to reproduce it as a sun symbol surrounded by many dots, as in this example.” (Faris 2009) These optical effects are caused by light from the sun refracting through ice crystals in the atmosphere, and depending upon the conditions, the display can be quite complicated.

A combination of atmospheric optical phenomena in
the antarctic. Robert Greenler, 1980, Rainbows, Halos,
and Glories, Cambridge University Press, London.

Robert Greenler has published photographs of many splendid displays of atmospheric optics in his wonderful book Rainbows, Halos, and Glories, (1980), and also included diagrams of drawings of these phenomena done in pre-photographic days, and also created in computer simulations. One example Greenler has published is Hevelius’s Seven Suns drawing of 1662, recording a drawing of a spectacular display he saw over Gdansk, Poland on February 20, 1661 (also known as Danzig under periods of German rule). In Hevelius’s drawing of this display: “the sun appears to be about 26 degrees above the horizon, and many of the elements of the drawing are familiar to us: the 22- and 46 degree halos, 22-degree parhelia, upper tangent arc to the 22-degree halo, circumzenithal arc, and parhelic circle. Hevelius shows as one of his suns the anthelion, which is surprising, but most unusual are the arcs crossing the parhelic circle about 90 degrees from the sun. These arcs are generally assumed to be part of a 90-degree halo that, from this report, is sometimes called Hevel’s halo.” (Greenler 1980:107)

Hevelius’s Seven Suns drawing,Gdansk, Poland, February 20,

1661. Robert Greenler, 1980, Rainbows, Halos, and Glories,

Cambridge University Press, London

In the copy of Hevelius’s drawing included in this posting I have added red circles to mark each of Hevelius’s so-called “Seven Suns” (including the real sun in the lower center) illustrating that a sun sign can indeed be surrounded by multiple dots in reality. Indeed, in such a complicated display, and with the multiple arcs, halos, and other effects intersecting each other, each area of intersection would show up as a larger bright spot leading to the possibility of many more “suns” visible at one time. 

W. E. Parry drawing, 1821. Robert Greenler, 1980, Rainbows,

Halos, and Glories, Cambridge University Press, London.

In a drawing by W. E. Parry from his 1821 Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage, Murray, London, we see another amazingly complicated optical display. If we again assume that where each arc and halo intersect it can appear with the brightness enlarged and reinforced this display might have looked like the sun with as many as nine other suns around it. This can be seen in the Greenler photograph above which shows a complicated display in the antarctic.

Given this proof of interest in recording this phenomenon by 17^th and 18^th century western scientists I also have to assume that a Native American who viewed such a display might be just as eager to record his interpretation of what he had seen. The only question is how he would have interpreted it. This is one possibility of such, giving us, I submit, an excellent natural model for the sun signs surrounded by a ring of dots seen in rock art.

NOTE: If you are interested in generating atmospheric optical simulations to attempt to match rock art examples of your own check this web site to see HaloSim 3 downloadable software: http://atoptics.co.uk/halo/halfeat.htm.

REFERENCES:

Corliss, William R.

1984    Rare Halos, Mirages, Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena: A Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies, Sourcebook.

Faris, Peter

2009    The Sun Paints His Cheeks – Sun Dogs, http://rockartblog.blogspot.com, Oct. 21, 2009.

Greenler, Robert

1980    Rainbows, Halos, and Glories, Cambridge University Press, London.

Parry, W. E.

1821    Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage, Murray, London.

A WEATHER SYMBOL IN ROCK ART:

Meteorological symbols. Figure 80, York, They Write 

Their Dreams on the Rocks Forever, p. 115.

The 'Nlaka'pamux people of the Stein River Valley, in British Columbia, Canada, have a heritage of rock art in their territory to which they still refer, and which their elders interpret. Some of this is recorded in the 1993 book They Write Their Dreams on the Rocks Forever, Rock Writings in the Stein River Valley of British Columbia, by Annie York, Richard Daly, and Chris Arnett. In this book Annie York, an elder of the 'Nlaka'pamux people, interpreted one panel as referring to meteorological conditions.

“- - there’s that oval with the slits and the line up and down. That’s really a weather-teller. The weather symbol. When you see that sort of shape in the sky, when the moon or the sun has a black mark here in it, you can tell that there’s going to be bad weather. It’s really a cloud and the up and down line is how the light and shadow comes through it. You often see that. One kind is the sun-dog. Every day it’s been there – that’s why we got this wet weather now.” (p. 116-7)

Crepuscular rays at sunset, Aurora, Colorado.

Photograph Peter Faris, Oct. 4, 2010.

22˚ Halo with Sun Dog, Denver. Photograph Peter Faris, 1995.

Annie's reference to the sun coming through the cloud is best illustrated at sunrise or sunset when the background sky is a little darker than during the bright of the day. If a low sun is projecting light rays upward through the contours of a cloud this is known as crepuscular rays. The alternative would be a slightly higher sun shining downward through the contours of a cloud (not illustrated) creating the sunset rays that we all are familiar with. 

On October 21, 2009, I posted a column titled The Sun Paints His Cheeks wherein I speculated that a petroglyph of a circular sun symbol surrounded by a ring of dots might be an illustration of multiple sun dogs (parhelia). In this pictographic example we have an interpretation from the descendants of the creators of the imagery that one symbol refers to the light that passes through a cloud, and also refers to sun dogs (parhelia). Whether or not the original creator of the image had that in mind when it was painted it certainly carries that meaning now. This is yet another indication of the importance environmental conditions carried for people of the First Nations, and now also for their descendants.

REFERENCE:

York, Annie, Richard Daley, and Chris Arnett,

1993    They Write Their Dreams on the Rocks Forever, Rock Writings in the Stein River Valley of British Columbia, Talonbooks, Vancouver, B.C.

THE SUN PAINTS HIS CHEEKS - SUN DOGS:

Setting sun with sun dog (parhelion) on the left,

Denver. Photo: Peter Faris, 1998.

Sun dogs (parhelia) are a particular type of ice halo which produces a colored patch to the left and right of the sun, 22 degrees or more distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun itself. Best seen and most conspicuous when the sun is low, they are not rainbows. The Blackfeet knew them as “when the sun paints his cheeks”. According to The Old North Trail, Life, Legends and Religion of the Blackfeet Indians,by Walter McClintock, the Blackfeet believed that “when the sun paints both his cheeks” it is a warning that severe cold is coming, and that “when the sun paints his face on the forehead, chin and both cheeks (four Sun Dogs), it is a warning that a chief will soon die.”

Setting sun with 22 degree halo and sun dog,

Denver (the sun is behind the tree

on the left). Photo: Peter Faris, 1995.

Although they are fairly common, especially in northern latitudes, they are often overlooked because people just don’t look for them and they are not noticed unless extremely bright.

Three Rivers, New Mexico.

Photo: Peter Faris, 1998.

Parhelia would be expected to be portrayed in rock art as a sun sign with two or more spots added outside the perimeter of the sun sign. This example, which can be found at the Three Rivers petroglyph site in New Mexico, consists of the normal southwestern concentric circle sun symbol surrounded by a ring of 16 dots which may represent multiple parhelia (with a little exaggeration thrown in). In his book Rare Halos, Mirages, and Anomalous Rainbows and Related Electromagnetic Phenomena, William Corliss presents examples of multiple sun dogs with examples of up to eight cited. I would expect that a rock artist who had observed such an example of multiple parhelia could be motivated to reproduce it as the sun symbol surrounded by many dots as in this example. It certainly should be considered a possibility.

Another excellent book on atmospheric phenomena is Robert Greenler's, Rainbows, Halos, and Glories, 1980, Cambridge University Press, London, New York.