noun
- A bright spot or luminous arc that appears on either side of the sun in foggy conditions, caused by the refraction and diffraction of light through water droplets.
Usage: Also called a sun dog or mock sun when occurring in fog rather than ice crystals.; Meteorological/optical phenomenon.; Chiefly North American.
Examples
- On the foggy morning, a bright fogdog appeared on the left side of the sun.
- The sailors noticed a fogdog forming as the mist rolled across the harbor.
- Fogdogs are often mistaken for additional suns by those unfamiliar with optical phenomena.
- The fogdog shimmered and faded as the fog began to clear.
- Photographers captured the rare fogdog during the coastal fog event.