On a freezing Arctic morning, temperatures dropping and skies towering over the horizon, Alaskans encountered a cosmic spectacle like a science fiction book. The incident has been seen on world social media and captured the video of four suns that come alive together in the deep snow of the wilderness.
The “four suns,” despite their incredible appearance, is indeed an atmospheric optical phenomenon known as parhelia, or “sun dogs,” researchers have confirmed.
How that Phenomenon Happens
This is not an issue because there are more stars -- it's a reflection of the peculiar relationship between sunlight and ice. Millions of microscopic, hexagonal ice crystals coalesce in a frozen atmosphere when it cools. Diamond Dust: In these very cold environments, such as Alaska, crystals made of glassy crystals can float low in the sky, a state called “diamond dust.” The effect is that if sunlight falls through these flat six-sided crystals they can be considered little prisms.
At a particular angle--usually 22 degrees--thereafter these rays are refracted (bent). False Suns: This bending of light brings about bright spots, or 'mock suns', on either side of the real sun. With everything fully under control, more than one layer of refraction and many levels of reflection can create additional spots and thus a "four" rather than a few suns.
Why Four Suns?
While any typical “sun dog" has both false suns, with the actual one out in front, it is much more likely that the sight of "four suns" in Alaska had something other than that. It could have been a combination of parhelia & a parhelic circle and circumzenithal arc, with contributions from additional halo members. “The fact is that to see four suns, you have to have a highly organized collection of extremely well-arranged ice crystals,” states a science expert in the atmosphere.
“All of the crystals that fall through the air have to be oriented horizontally so it creates a huge, natural hall of mirrors.” A Winter of Wonders. This event coincided with the 2026 solar maximum, which has already witnessed record displays of Aurora Borealis erupt in the Northern Hemisphere. This “four sun” event took place nearby Utqiagvik (previously Barrow) and also in parts of the Brooks Range, where the sun only recently returned after a long polar night. As the video racks up millions of views, it is also a chilling reminder of how we can see not just the hidden geometric beauty of our atmosphere but the quiet magic of the Arctic winter.
