TORONTO – If you were looking skyward in Toronto last night, you would have seen a red moon rising. Not blood red, more bloody orange. Why does this happen?
Light from the moon, like the Sun, has to pass through more of Earth’s atmosphere when it’s low on the horizon. As the moon rises, the light passes through less of the atmosphere, which explains why the colour turns from red to orange. Light from the moon, which is really only reflected sunlight, is made up of a wide spectrum of colours. Photons of red light don’t get scattered too much by the atmosphere. Photons of green and blue light scatter a lot more easily.
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When you see a red moon, you are actually seeing red light that wasn’t scattered. The same is true for beautiful red sunsets.
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A red moon can also be caused by particulate matter in the air, like the smoke from a forest fire, dust storms or volcanic eruptions. You can also see a reddish moon during a lunar eclipse, when the moon slips into the earth’s shadow.
There’s an old saying, ‘Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.’ As for what a red moon means, why don’t you share what you’ve heard with Global News by commenting on our Global Toronto Facebook page.
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