mock sun

See parhelion.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

mock sun

(Physical Geography) another name for parhelion

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

mock sun - a bright spot on the parhelic circle; caused by diffraction by ice crystals; "two or more parhelia are usually seen at once"

parhelion, sundog

maculation, patch, speckle, dapple, fleck, spot - a small contrasting part of something; "a bald spot"; "a leopard's spots"; "a patch of clouds"; "patches of thin ice"; "a fleck of red"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The sun is alone, except in thick weather, when there sometimes appear to be two, but one is a mock sun. God is alone -- but the devil, he is far from being alone; he sees a great deal of company; he is legion.

View in context

Some halos are decorated with bright spots known as sun dogs or mock suns.

A halo at the end of the world

Whether it is the complete description of perihelia (mock suns and Lowitz arcs) in China in the seventh century (not discovered in Europe until one thousand years later) or Zhang Heng's (78-139 CE) motive power waterwheel machine that long predated both Newcomen's and Watt's steam engines, the Chinese were far ahead of Europe.

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom

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