What causes the moon to appear red in color either during it's rise or set??

Answer 1

It happens so we can forecast the weather! A red moon predicts blowing winds! Have a look at this site, it has many more natural weather indicators and folklore! It is quite interesting.
http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/folklore.htm#sun

But to the more serious side, there are several explanations:

As we all know by now after all the answers above, the atmosphere of earth scatters light. It scatters blue, green and purple light which have shorter wavelengths better than red, orange and yellow light which have longer wavelengths. And because the moon is close to the horizon, the reflected light from the moon has more atmosphere to pass through. Thus by the time the moonlight reaches our line of sight, we can only see the red, orange and yellow reflections.

Yes, pollution can cause the moon to be yellow or slightly orange, but even when it is directly above us.

This site explains it all in detail and is very interesting:
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonorange/
And the same question was also asked and explained elsewhere:
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=280

But the above explanation covers the yellow and sometimes orangey moonrise/set we mostly see. There are times we see a more intense orange and near red moonrise/set. I once saw a moonrise that looked like a huge orange. I thought that if I could eat that, I would never again have a vitamin C deficiency! :) It was so beautiful and even a bit eerie. Why do we see that only sometimes?

This only happens at full moon when the sun and moon are both at opposite horizons simultaneously. A rising moon in the middle of the night casts a far whiter appearance.

A blood red moon is caused when the moon is fully eclipsed by earth. There is still some residual sunlight that's deflected by earths atmosphere. This light is in the red part of the spectrum. This is called lunar eclipse. But this doesn’t really answer your question, because it does not happen during moonrise/set. I just thought it would be interesting to add!

http://www.dustbunny.com/afk/skywonders/lunareclipse/
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/13oct_lunareclipse.htm
http://redmoonrising.homestead.com/lunareclipsephotography1.html
http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

Also:

Pretty pictures:
http://www.photographersdirect.com/stockimages/m/moonrise.asp

Pretty interesting:
http://www.zetatalk.com/index/reddust.htm

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Even if there were no pollution, it would still have an orangish red tint. The light is having to travel pretty much through a lot more of the atmosphere. The blue light from the sun is refracted away and only the yellow, orange, and reds transmit through the atmosphere. This is the same reason the sunset looks deep orange and red.

Answer 4

The reflection of the sun on the moon causes light to be given off, so if the moon is low enough and the sun hits it just right at sunset, the moon reflects the right in an ochre hue.

Answer 5

Pollution in the atmosphere. Pollution is concentrated closer to the planet, therefore, it has to visually pass through the pollution which will refract the light more. This is the same reason why sunrise and sunset is colorful. The more pollution, the more particles to reflect and refract the light. Sunrises and sunsets are particularly pretty after a volcanic eruption, too.

Answer 6

I agree with Cat Lover and Ergo, duriing rise and set, there is more atmosphere. Consequently the longer red light waves are allowed thru while the shorter blue waves are reflected away. Same reason sunrise and sunsets are red and light acts opposite during the day and we see blue. If you watch the sunset closely, you will see it flash green.

Answer 7

Well simply because of the same reason sky is blue :)
the more distance moonlight travels in atmosphere determines its color; since at moon rise or moon set, this distance is distinctively large rays with shorter wavelength (blue,violet..) are refracted more so that they doesn't reach your eye, the moon you're looking lacks blue, hence it looks reddish.

+ since blue is refracted and reflected the most, altough sun is the only source, the whole sky looks blue

Answer 8

All the junk and pollution in the air. The Bible also says the moon will be like blood in the final days. So you decide which answer is best for you. thanks!

Answer 9

reflection from the sun.

Answer 10

it does?