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 has to pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the green, blue, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. You only see yellow, orange, or red.
2 comments:
What causes the yellowness? I see crazy huge moons once in a while and its usually yellow/orange when its that big.
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 has to pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the green, blue, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. You only see yellow, orange, or red.
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