Russia Woke Up to Two Extra Suns

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Анюза Айбашева / Via youtube.com

Tuesday morning, Russian citizens were surprised to wake up to two more suns than usual.

Thankfully, the sun has not multiplied (although honestly, I could use the extra warmth right now). This phenomenon is a result of an optical illusion; the hexagonal ice crystals in the air refracted the light from the sun to make it seem like the sun was tripled. The invisible ice bits are a result of the extreme cold— it was around negative 23 degrees Celsius (negative 9.4 degrees Fahrenheit for fellow Americans).

This natural event isn't exactly uncommon. The false suns are known as sun dogs, and Wikimedia has a whole collection of them. Regardless, the solar canines were a big hit on social media:

[h/t: Buzzfeed.com / BBC.com]