Why is the Moon orange?
Although the Moon is considered Earth’s natural satellite, it can seem orange in the night sky at times.
Here’s everything you need to know about the peculiar effect.
The moon seems larger during various times of the year while it is passing through its monthly Full Moon phase.
It is one of the eight lunar phases that the Moon passes through during its 29.53-day cycle.
Full Moon, New Moon, First Quarter, and Last Quarter are the four major Moon phases.
The color of the Moon changes as it progresses through these stages, depending on how much of the atmosphere it must pass through before reaching us.
When the Moon is low in the sky, its light strikes the atmosphere at a shallower angle, which means it must travel through more atmosphere to reach us.
How does the Moon’s color alter according to the atmosphere?
The more atmosphere the moon’s light has to pass through, the more orange or red it will seem.
This is because light is absorbed and scattered by particles in the environment, and light with a shorter wavelength is scattered more easily.
Blue light, with a wavelength of 400 nanometres, is at one end of the visible light spectrum, while red light, with a wavelength of 700 nanometres, is at the other.
More orange and red light can flow through the atmosphere and reach our eyes as a result.
The sun seems redder at daybreak and dusk for the same reason.
