There are many pieces of news that appear on social media and while they might look interesting, not everything is true.
We get to see a bunch of interesting things on the internet on a daily basis and many of them are phenomena we had no idea about. Since people have the power to share anything they want, there isn't always the opportunity to check if those things are real or not. Every so often, there are posts that go viral and we may assume that they are true while they are actually pieces of fake news.
One such post has been about the phenomenon of seeing what appeared to be two suns in the sky near the borders of the US and Canada. This became quite viral because what can be more absurd! People may have seen the sun and the moon in the sky at the same time but never two suns. There are many websites that find out what the truth is and they were able to find out why that phenomenon happened and if it was actually two suns.
The original post which had been going viral called this moment "Hunter's Moon" which causes two suns to be seen at the same time. The post is also accompanied by photos showing the same phenomenon. But, they are completely false because our solar system has only one sun. This gimmick originated in 2015 and usually goes viral whenever there is a solar eclipse, as per NewsX. A solar eclipse occurred on June 21, 2020, and it was visible in 14 countries across Africa and Asia.
Two #suns have appeared on the, one is the true #sun and the other is the #moon. This phenomenon is known as #Moon_Hunters and only occurs when the #Earth changes its axis.
— Girish Sharma 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@girishsharma161) June 20, 2020
So beautiful!!!"😍😍😍#SaturdayMorning #SaturdayThoughts #SaturdayMotivation pic.twitter.com/XCklaCNigc
The photos showing the two suns may not be photoshopped because something like that has been observed, even though it's rare. But, there is a scientific explanation for it. This happens only when there are ice crystals in the atmosphere, which happens below the temperature of -30 degrees Celsius. The ice crystals reflect the sun and give the illusion that there are two in the sky. This is called the anthelion phenomenon.
Sometimes, it can create the illusion of three suns in the sky, as per Telegraph UK. Three suns were spotted in Mongolia in 2015. This is also called sundogs or mock suns, and are seen as brightly colored spots on either side of the sun. "Sundogs form as sunlight is refracted by hexagonal plate-like ice crystals with diameters larger than 30 micrometres and their flat faces horizontally oriented," said the Telegraph. They are visible when the sun is near the horizon and on the same horizontal plane as the observer and the ice crystals. When the sunlight passes through the ice crystals, it bends by 22 degrees before reaching our eyes. It is the bending of the light that results in the formation of a sundog.
This is "Sundog". It is a member of the family of halos caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere. 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.#nature pic.twitter.com/sWkHQBnWCE
— AtomsTalk (@AtomsTalk) June 21, 2020
In December 2019, three suns were seen because of the anthelion phenomenon in China. Residents of Khorgas city in western China were stunned when they saw two glowing spots besides the sun, according to Daily Mail. Eyewitnesses had captured the "phantom suns" on either side of the real sun.
An illusion of three suns: An anthelion, a rare natural phenomenon, is seen in Inner Mongolia, north China pic.twitter.com/bm6E9drsbJ
— Xinhua Culture&Travel (@XinhuaTravel) February 14, 2020
One university student, who calls herself Shi Li said, "I was wondering at the time, 'Has the heaven opened?' At first, I thought there was something wrong with my vision, but after I heard many people saw it, I realized it was really happening." Meteorological engineer Bian Yun told MailOnline that sun dogs rarely happen in China.
@mark_tarello sun dogs in Fairmont MN!! pic.twitter.com/hyRVaB7bWx
— crystalmyst (@cjerred) June 20, 2020
Meanwhile, the Hunter's Moon is the full moon that appears in the sky in October. It got its name from Native Americans, as per Farmer's Almanac.
In the southern hemisphere, autumn is in full swing and this full Moon is the Hunter's Moon. https://t.co/OuPuAUfwE8. Happy lunar observing! #observethemoon pic.twitter.com/c8oA6Yshia
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) April 18, 2019
Native Americans had to prepare for the cold months ahead, so they looked to October’s full moon as the signal to gather meat for winter, which is why this full moon got the name of Full Hunter’s Moon. The moon rises quickly after the sunset making the periods of darkness between the two moments shorter. Previously, fields would be reaped in late September or early October, and hunters could easily see both deer and fox by the light of the moon.
References:
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/octobers-full-hunters-moon-17868
