An unusual phenomenon in the sky above Chengdu, China, recently fascinated not only the city’s residents, but also Internet users around the world.
On August 18, the sky over Sichuan was illuminated by what appeared to be seven ‘suns’, an extraordinary sight that was quickly captured in photos and videos. However, this stunning event only lasted about a minute.
A photo of the seven suns was shared on Reddit, where it immediately attracted a lot of attention. Users began to speculate about the cause of this rare occurrence.
At first glance, it looked like a parhelion, an atmospheric phenomenon in which light is refracted by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere, creating the appearance of extra “suns” around the real one. However, the actual cause turned out to be very different.
Zeng Yang, vice president of the Sichuan Astronomy Society, clarified that the sun’s sevenfold image was not due to an atmospheric effect, but rather an optical illusion created by laminated glass.
He explained that each layer of glass adds an additional reflection of the sun, and the number of visible ‘suns’ can change depending on the viewing angle.
“This illusion is the result of overlapping images when viewed through multiple layers of glass, with each layer adding a new ‘sun’ to the sky. It is a rare and impressive sight, but has nothing to do with natural phenomena,” Zeng Yang explains.
Although there is a scientific explanation for the seven suns, some people preferred to believe that the spectacle fell under Hou Yi’s story.
In Chinese mythology, Hou Yi was depicted as the god of archery who was sent from heaven to help people. He is said to have prevented ten suns from burning the earth and the story goes that he shot them down with his magical bow and arrow.
The tenth sun begged for his life and agreed to separate the day from the night as punishment for his attempt to burn the earth.
Despite the simple explanation for the illusion, the event led to numerous discussions and questions.
