Sun dogs, also called Parhelion, are patches of light that appear beside the sun. They usually appear as colored areas of right to the left or right of the sun, typically 22 degrees distant and at the same horizontal position as the sun. They can also form as halos or rings around the sun. It is speculated that they are called Sun Dogs because they follow the sun like a dog follows its owner. These weird weather phenomenon are formed by the light that passes through hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds. As the crystals sink, they become vertically aligned and refract the sun horizontally.
There can also be Moon Dogs that appear beside the moon. These are formed by lunar light passing through ice crystals. Moon dogs, also called paraselenae, aren't as common as sun dogs are because the moon has to be particularly bright for them to show and they can only happen at night.
https://www.livescience.com/26402-sundogs.html
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