Sunset sundogs

Last Wednesday evening when I went out to feed the cats, I got partway out to the machine shed, turned around and ran back to the house, tromped through the kitchen with my snowy boots on, grabbed the camera, and ran back out to take photos! There were the most awesome sundogs I've ever seen, just as the sun was setting. I think it was patches of snow flurry clouds in the air that caused them.

HOWEVER, I was sooo disappointed when I saw the photos. The sundogs actually each contained a very brightly colored rainbow, but the camera didn't capture it. So sad. It was glorious, but not so, the photos. It was too cold (near zero) to mess around with settings... I nearly froze my fingers as it was. So I settled for what I caught.

The pics are still pretty awesome, so here they are for you. Just imagine a huge bright rainbow segment on the edge of the brightest part. (Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

This one was on the north side of the sun:

And this one was on the south:

Of course, I couldn't take a pic of the sun itself, or even begin to get both sundogs in one photo. So I tucked the camera inside my jacket and went on to feed my cats. A few minutes later, the sun had set, and here's the last of the beauty: