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2006-09-30 16:38:19 · 14 answers · asked by I-C-U 5 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

14 answers

I have answered this EXACT question TWICE before and have won both times. Here is your answer precisely.
(Please excuse the cut and paste.) Please pick me again.


Best Answer - Chosen By Voters

Here's your answer. It's called a Blood Moon. It happens when the moon is in the Earths shadow. (A reverse eclipse.) The red comes from the sun light passing through earth's atmosphere and bending to shine on the moon while in the shadow. It's the same thing that causes a red sunset or sunrise. It happens near the time of Halloween often. There is no other time you will see it red. People think of an eclipse as when the moon is between the sun and the earth but it happens the other way too. Sometimes you see a crescent moon with the dark part slightly lit up too. This is caused by Earth shine. Light is then being reflected off earth and onto the dark side. That's cool too. (But not red.) Hope this answers your question.

2006-09-30 19:55:16 · answer #1 · answered by Smart Dude 6 · 6 0

"The Moon is fully eclipsed by the Earth, whose shadow blots out all but a tiny fraction of solar light.

Total lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are all in alignment and the Moon travels into the broad cone of shadow cast by the Earth.

The Moon does not become invisible, though, because there is still residual sunlight that is deflected towards it by the Earth's atmosphere, most of which is light in the red part of the spectrum.

That causes the Moon to appear as a dark color, usually a coppery red, orange or even brown."

2006-09-30 16:45:37 · answer #2 · answered by Sideshow Bob 3 · 2 1

This occurs when the Moon is near the horizon and light coming off the Moon's surface travel a longer distance through the atmosphere to our eyes. Blue light gets scattered by the atmosphere and the longer the distance the light has to travel, the more of the blue light gets scattered. Hence, objects near the horizon appear more red.

2006-09-30 16:51:26 · answer #3 · answered by entropy 3 · 1 1

Reflection of the sun off our atmosphere makes the moon appear red

2006-09-30 18:26:53 · answer #4 · answered by MexiShortieHubby 3 · 0 1

Well, here in Central Oregon, when we get a lot of fires in the area, the moon and the sun shine red through the smoke. Very eerie.

2006-09-30 16:47:04 · answer #5 · answered by bonbon823 2 · 2 1

Several reasons. Dust, humidity in the atmosphere contribute to it. Low angle in the atmosphere, when the moon is low in the sky, will make it redder as it has to go through more atmosphere in reaching your eyes, and this scatters away the higher wavelengths - the blue and green, producing a redder sun.

2006-09-30 16:44:28 · answer #6 · answered by alnitaka 4 · 5 1

The dust in the Earth's atmosphere absorbs short wave length. Thus, the sunlight reflected from the earth projects redish color (longer wave length) on the moon.

2006-09-30 16:45:17 · answer #7 · answered by muon 3 · 1 1

When it exposed to the sun directly it will change colour, because the moon is white like a paper and the illumination from the sun is low.

2006-09-30 17:44:26 · answer #8 · answered by Eve W 3 · 0 1

Atmospheric red shift.

2006-09-30 18:38:45 · answer #9 · answered by FrogDog 4 · 0 1

Dust in the atmosphere refracts the other wavelengths so all we see is the red.

2006-09-30 16:46:32 · answer #10 · answered by Helmut 7 · 1 1

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