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The Orange moon
Do you ever wonder why the moon looks orange in colour as it should be white, then why does it change colour? The reason behind it is that the atmosphere of the earth is one of the reasons behind it.
If you have seen the big harvest moon in the fall hanging low on the horizon and it appears orange. The moon does not change colour; other factors make it look orange.
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Reasons why the moon appears orange
There are several reasons behind it: first, because of the earth’s atmosphere, the other reason is the angle from which you view the moon.
It takes around a month for the moon to travel around the earth. The moon takes a different path every night as the moon and earth travel around the sun.
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Different orange colours
There would be times when you see a bright orange moon that appears low in the sky and close to the horizon. There is a greater distance for the light to travel vs when you see the moon overhead.
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Wavelengths
The reason behind it is that you see the moon more in the earth’s atmosphere rather than in the sky. Because the atmosphere is full of airborne particles that absorb and scatter light, these atmospheric particles scatter shorter wavelengths of light, and the longer wavelengths pass through the atmosphere reach us, which is why it appears orange. (See What Is the Color of Fire?)
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The reason why the moon appears big when it sets
As the moon is setting, they get low in the sky and get close to the horizon, because of which the light travels through the maximum amount of atmosphere, which makes it look big.
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Why does the moon appear orange even when it’s high?
The reason behind it can be that there are specific areas where the atmosphere is full of dust, smoke and pollution because of various reasons. These particles scatter, which makes it appear orange. (See What is the Color of Each Planet?)
