Apparent Colors of The Moon from Earth's Atmosphere
What color is the Moon? It depends on the night—and the time. Outside the Earth's atmosphere, the dark Moon, shines by reflected sunlight. It appears as a magnificently brown-tinged gray. This image highlights a collection of apparent colors of the full Moon on Earth, documented by an astrophotographer over ten years from locations across Italy.
A red- or yellow-colored Moon usually indicates a Moon seen near the horizon. There, blue light has been scattered away by a long path through the Earth's atmosphere at times laden with fine dust. A blue-colored Moon is more rare and can indicate an atmosphere carrying larger dust particles. What created the purple Moon is unclear—it may be a combination of several effects. The last image captures the total lunar eclipse of July 2018—where the Moon, in Earth's shadow, appeared a faint red—due to light refracted through air around the Earth.
Have you ever seen an unusually colorful Moon?
Marcella's website: https://greenflash.photo/about-me/
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe
A service of the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Technological University (MTU)
Release Date: Nov. 1, 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment