Illustration showing Sun dog phenomenon depicted in the Nuremberg Chronicle. 1493. This version was associated with the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, formally called a parhelion, (plural Parhelia) in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to the left or right of the Sun. Aristotle notes that "two mock suns rose with the sun and followed it all through the day until sunset."