Ice crystals can place a bright sundog beside the Sun — ChillScroll

Two bright sundogs and a faint circular halo beside a low winter Sun

Ice crystals can place a bright sundog beside the Sun

A sundog forms when sunlight bends through flat ice crystals in the atmosphere. The result is a bright, sometimes rainbow-tinted spot about 22 degrees to the left or right of the Sun.

The Sun gets a bright little companion on either side. The ice crystals did the lighting.

Source · National Weather Service ↗