Move over Tatooine: Incredible video shows THREE SUNS appear over St Petersburg in a rare phenomenon

The unusual sight was spotted in the skies over St Petersburg
The false suns are the result of light refracting through ice crystals in the air
They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season but are not also so bright and obvious and are usually spotted when the sun is low in the sky

Published: 04:49 EST, 6 December 2016 | Updated: 06:08 EST, 6 December 2016

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Incredible footage and images show three suns appearing in the sky over Russia.

People in the country's second city of St Petersburg were left stunned by the unusual sight.

The triple sun scene was the result of a rare natural phenomenon.

Incredible footage and images show three suns appearing in the sky over Russia. People in Russia's second city of St Petersburg were left stunned by the unusual sight. The triple sun scene was the result of a rare natural phenomenon

WHAT ARE SUN DOGS?

Sun dogs, also known as mock suns or phantom suns are rare natural phenomena.

They consist of two bright dots either side of the sun.

The bright halos are caused by light shining through hexagonal ice crystals.

These act like a prism, refracting the light by 22 degrees and creating the two glowing halos.

The optical illusion normally takes place after the night frosts and when the temperature falls rapidly.

They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season but are not also so bright and obvious.

They are usually seen during extremely cold weather, particularly when the sun is low in the sky.

Maria Borukha, head of popular science at the Petersburg Planetarium and a current PhD student in celestial mechanics at St Petersburg State University, said the false suns were known as 'sun dogs'.

She explained that they were an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of a pair of bright spots appearing on either side of the Sun.

They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season but are rarely seen as brightly as they were in the St Petersburg area.

But Nikolay Zheleznov, senior researcher of the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said some halos were even more eye-catching.

'This was a regular halo and not the most spectacular type,' he said

'It wasn't a closed circle of halo.

'It is nothing but a play of light on ice crystals in cirrus clouds at an altitude of five to ten kilometres (three to six miles) above the ground.'

The phenomenon is known as 'sun dogs'. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season but are rarely seen as brightly as they were in the St Petersburg area. The bright halos are caused by light shining through hexagonal ice crystals

The optical illusion normally takes place after the night frosts and when the temperature falls rapidly. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season but are not also so bright and obvious

Local residents took to social media to post images of the unusual sight.

The scene has been likened to Luke Skywalker’s fictitious home planet of Tatooine in Star Wars, which has two suns

There were also reports of the phenomenon appearing in other parts of Russia.

Last November, a similar scene was spotted over Siberia.

Officials said the halo illusion triggered many road accidents across the country because of the brightness and shock of witnessing three suns.