did i really see the moon or...?

Question

18th night 10:40
i jus went into the balcony, and saw a red moon. it was too red that it looked exactly like mars. i thought to capture it through camera but it was gradually going down and a building was covering it. i could only see it for 10 mins. not more than that. it was a very good sight. but was it mars or the moon? if it was the moon why was it so red? but it was as big as moon. after 10 more mins it jus went down completely.

Answer 1

The setting Moon can look red for the same reason that the setting Sun often does. It is due to the long path the light has to take through the atmosphere near the horizon that allows the air to scatter away much of the blue light to other parts of the sky (which is why the sky is blue) leaving the light coming directly from the Moon (or Sun) redder.

Answer 2

If it was large it was the moon. The reason that it looked red is due to the particles in the atmosphere. The lower on the horizon it gets the more particles affect the color and the redder the moon appeared.

Answer 3

Without knowing too much, most likely the sunlight reflecting on the moons surface was passing through the earths atmosphere and being "bent" by atmospheric phenomenon, causing the light to reflect red.

Answer 4

If it's clear enough tonight, look in the same area at the same time. If it was the Moon, it'll be there, but a little higher (more eastward) in the sky.

Answer 5

when the moon is at the horizon setting there is more earth atmosphere between you and the moon...when the atmosphere is polluted it can change the color of the moon as you saw...(the moon's color didn't change...it was the earth's atmosphere which changed the color of the moon)