Is this real?

[Jonathan Huyer]

Have a look at this sunrise photo and please provide an opinion... Could this be real, or just a weird lens flare?

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090804.html

[Jon Ruyle]

Man, I have no idea! Cool, though!

The only thing I can think of to cause the effect is light reflecting off moisture in the atmosphere.

[HDNitehawk]

If you cross your eyes, yes it can be real.

I think it could be some kind of reflection, if it didn't manifest itself several times like flare it would be more believable.
Because of the dynamic range of the camera, you know the sunset didn't look exactly like this in person.

But it might be real, it would have been real cool to see and take a picture of.

[HDNitehawk]

Ah, and the results are;

This thread is now locked. The cause of the triple sunrise was determined to be a double paned glass window (double glazed). You may have come here to add your input but it is very likely that your idea was already posted by someone else with the same idea. Please read through the thread to understand why this conclusion was arrived at.

[Jonathan Huyer]

Oh thanks! I should have explored those links and found out for myself. Interesting discussion on that site. I found the photo on the "Milky Way Scientists" page on Facebook... it posts some pretty amazing photos. Some are even taken without windows in the way

[HDNitehawk]

It would have been really cool to capture something like this if it weren’t a trick.
Sad part is, that in today’s world of photoshoped and trick photography, if we ever get a picture of big foot no one will believe.