Sundog Simulator: Astronomical Computing
Sundog Simulator: Astronomical Computing
Sundog Simulator: Astronomical Computing
As the Sun sets behind ice crystals at high altitude, a pair of parhelia or sundogs follow it down. Such displays are fairly common but can vary in intensity and color. Jari Piiki photographed these brilliant mock Suns in Finland on February 2, 1996.
Sundog Simulator
Parhelia Optics
Sundog
Ice crystal
Sun
22
44
210 AN=I*PI/180!
20 REM
30 SCREEN 9
450 END
40 WINDOW (-125,80)-(125,-10)
240 AN=-AN
50 PI=3.14159
470 IR%=0
480 MU=N/NP
280 AN=-(60-I)*PI/180!
80 LN=COS(SA*PI/180)
510 L0=LI*HP+NI*PH
90 LM=COS((90-SA)*PI/180)
520 N0=NI*HP-LI*PH
310 AN=-AN
110 EL=SA-(J-1)*.1
540 IN=MU*MU*(N0*N0-1!)+1!
130 N0=COS(EL*PI/180)
140 M0=COS((90-EL)*PI/180)
350 XS=-200!*L0/N0
570 RETURN
150 IF ABS(1!-M0*M0-N0*N0)<.000001
360 YS=200!*MS/N0
170 L0=(1!-M0*M0-N0*N0)^.5
390 NEXT I
610 L0=LI*HP+NI*PH
400 NEXT J
620 N0=NI*HP-LI*PH
190 N=1!
630 M0=MS
200 NP=1.31
640 RETURN
degrees";SA
THEN L0=0!
randomly oriented plates overlap, thereby washing out the colors. Usually, the
evident range of hues in parhelia is red
to yellow. Even so, the sundogs may be
very bright (hence another colloquialism mock Sun).
Sundogs can be seen year-round and
worldwide. In his book Atmospheric Ha-
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Sun and its sundog is roughly the angular distance between your outstretched
thumb and pinky finger at arms length.
(Of course, the usual caution against
looking directly at the Sun applies!)
THE PROGRAM
Although the physics of light rays interacting with an ice crystal is straightforward consisting of the laws of reflection and refraction (Snells Law)
geometry greatly complicates the situation. Desiring a simpler approach, I decided to attack the problem with raytracing equations used in the design of
optical systems (see, for example, Telescope Optics: Evaluation and Design by
Harrie G. J. Rutten and Martin A. M.
van Venrooij; Willmann-Bell, 1988). Light
rays can be traced through any system
of lenses, mirrors, and prisms to determine their directions and locations after
they emerge. The results may be displayed in a spot diagram, which simulates the appearance of the resulting optical image.
The prism in this case is the hexagonal ice plate, which is assumed to be
horizontal. As surprising as it seems, the
crystals fall flat just think of a falling
leaf, or drop a sheet of paper. Actually,
plate crystals usually have a slight tilt,
These intensity calculations are also omitted to keep the program as simple as
possible.
When the program is executed, it will
produce an image by tracing 276 rays
for a Sun 0 to 19 above the horizon.
The tilt subroutine presents one face
of the ice crystal to a light ray, then
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