1)
This effect is caused by the atmosphere of the earth. The reason for the orange color is due to the scattering of light by the atmosphere. When the moon is near the horizon, the moonlight must pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the blue, green, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. That's why you only see yellow, orange, or red.
The moon can have an orange color at any time of the year. Sometimes the moon appears orange even when it's directly overhead. This occurs when there's a lot of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere. The size of those particles will determine the type of color you will see.
2)
Step outside and you'll see a giant moon rising in the east. It looks like Earth's moon, round and cratered; the Man in the Moon is in his usual place. But something's wrong. This full moon is strangely inflated. It's huge!
You've just experienced the Moon Illusion.
Sky watchers have known this for thousands of years: moons hanging low in the sky look unnaturally big. Cameras don't see it, but our eyes do. It's a real illusion. When you look at the moon, rays of moonlight converge and form an image about 0.15 mm wide in the back of your eye. High moons and low moons make the same sized spot. So why does your brain think one is bigger than the other? After all these years, scientists still aren't sure why. A similar illusion was discovered in 1913 by Mario Ponzo.
2006-11-09 11:12:24
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answer #1
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answered by WHY? 3
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The Moon rises 50 minutes later each night because of its movement in orbit around the Earth. The Moon is always the same size as seen from Earth, but appears larger when close to the horizon because of an optical illusion known as "the Moon illusion" (try Googling it). [Edit] As Brant says, you got a lot of goofy answers here. I forgot to mention the orange colour, which is due to light scattering close to the horizon. The Sun also seems orange close to the horizon. But both Sun and Moon are actually white in colour, but sometimes coloured by the Earth's atmosphere.
2016-05-22 01:05:13
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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The moon's orbit around the Earth is elliptical. It has a perigee, and an apogee. What you saw was the perigee, the lowest point of the orbit, so the moon looks larger in the sky. The color has to do with the atmospheric conditions.
2006-11-09 08:02:34
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answer #3
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answered by togashiyokuni2001 6
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The orange color comes from dust in the atmosphere, which is generally more prevalent in Autumn.
The hugeness comes from an effect called "Moon Illusion". Wikipedia has an excellent article on this effect.
2006-11-09 08:41:49
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answer #4
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answered by Helmut 7
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Its Huge because its near the Horizon, The looking class effect.
Its Orange because of pollution in the atmosphere.
2006-11-09 08:09:14
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answer #5
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answered by psychodad 3
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In London its 3/4 and bright White
2006-11-09 08:12:26
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answer #6
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answered by lucy 3
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I had to go outside and look at the moon, couldn't see it as no windows that side of the house. Was disappointed to discover my moon was normal! Where are you? I have never seen this before, sounds really good!!
2006-11-09 08:09:00
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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I miss that in Oct/Nov since I emigrated to Australia, it was gorgeous...I used to ride home on my motorbike from a late shift in Cornwall and it was lovely. I guess it is just that is it closer to Earth in Oct /Nov but it does not seem to happen here so i don't really know why
2006-11-09 08:02:39
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answer #8
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answered by rose_merrick 7
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Didn't you see the news? It was knocked off it's orbit and is going to hit the earth tomorrow. Quick - turn off your computer and go spend all your money tonight - you won't need it after the world is smashed to smithereens.
goodbye.
2006-11-09 08:03:37
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answer #9
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answered by boonietech 5
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Don't know but it was the same last night
2006-11-09 08:02:01
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answer #10
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answered by MISSY G 5
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