In an unusual spectacle captured in Mongolia, called a parhelion, three suns appear in the sky, as a result of a natural phenomenon, where the sunlight passes through snow crystals in a way when they are suspended in the air.
The spectacle show the sun in the center of the snowy scene, with two reflections on either side, which can be described as “sundogs” or “phantom suns.”
Sundogs are created when sunlight is refracted by large, hexagonal ice crystals, such as those in snowflakes.
They typically appear as two colored patches of light either side of the sun. Though this phenomenon is rare, it can in theory be seen anywhere in the world in any season.
If the phenomenon is seen while the sun is rising, the sundogs gradually move further away from the sun but always stay at the same elevation.
They are reddest in color when they are near to the sun and fade to yellow, orange and then blue as they move away.
Centuries ago, the sight of three suns in the sky was seen as a bad omen.