BMKG Explains the Twin Sun Phenomenon in Mentawai

Jakarta: Recently, social media was abuzz with a video of the phenomenon of twin suns appearing in the sky over Mentawai, West Sumatra. The video was initially uploaded by the account X @never_aloney on Thursday, February 22, 2024.
 
The video clearly shows the appearance of two suns in Mentawai, recorded by a resident whose location was not far from the beach.
 
"The appearance of twin suns caught on camera by netizens in West Sumatra. Also don't know what the scientific explanation is for this phenomenon of two suns," wrote the @never_alonely account. The video then went viral and was responded to by experts, namely the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The head of the BMKG Padang Panjang Station, Suaidi Ahadi, stated that the appearance of two suns or twin suns in Mentawai is a sun dog or an optical phenomenon in the atmosphere.
 
"If traced through social media, the first upload was here, at the location of Pulau Masokut, Mentawai. It was Thursday morning, February 22, 2024," said Suaidi on Saturday, February 24, 2024.
 
Suaidi ensured that the phenomenon of twin suns in Mentawai is a natural thing. The head of the BMKG Minangkabau Station, Desindra Deddy Kurniawan, stated that the appearance of twin suns is common and regularly occurs in Indonesia.
 
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of Observation and Information at the BMKG Minangkabau Meteorological Station, Yudha Nugraha, added that the sun dog phenomenon is caused by refraction or perfect reflection of sunlight by ice crystal particles in high-altitude atmospheric layers.
 
This condition causes the refracted or reflected light to converge to form a new false sun. Yudha explained that the phenomenon generally occurs during the transitional seasons from dry to rainy.
 
"The phenomenon is common, especially during the transitional seasons from dry to rainy," said Yudha.
 
However, he said that until now there has been no research indicating the sun dog phenomenon as an indication of natural disasters.
 
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