VE6AB Mobile Ops
Sun Dog Mobile Ops
Backing off of the driveway at 6;30am local, I was pleased to see clear skies overhead as I drove east on highway 1 in the breaking dawn.
Over the past week I have been shooting photos for a client, consisting of a series of winter farm photos they required, and I only needed one in particular to complete the set of 6 that I had agreed to supply them with.
Conditions on the bands were proving to be good, with my HF APRS packets being heard and decoded on 30 meters by HF Gateways located across Canada and the US as the map shows.
On a morning with the temperature sitting at -28C, along with ice-crystals the norm just after sunrise, there were sun dogs visible in the morning sky.
If you are not aware as too what causes sun dogs, they are caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere (short explanation).
Sun dogs typically appear as a pair of subtly colored patches of light, around 22° to the left and right of the sun, and at the same altitude above the horizon as the sun.
They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but are not always obvious or bright. I have seen them more prominent than they appeared on this morning.
Sun dogs are best seen and most conspicuous when the sun is near the horizon as it was when I stopped to capture this image.
I have to tell you, that with the -28C temperature, and a light breeze blowing out of the northwest, it made for tingly fingers while capturing the various photos that I shot over my time meandering on snow covered backroads.
Still, being out and about on mornings like this one has its rewards.....
http://www.jerryclement.ca/Outdoor-Pursuits/DawnThreader/i-QgcvCSz
Expand the photo for a closer look.....
