color on the moon

Im located in kansas right now, and the moon towards the left tip (its a crescent moon) looks red. I asked a gyy on the street if he sees the color, and he said yes. Does anyone else see it or know what it could po
ssibly be? By the way im on my phone and it cant take a high enough resolution photo to post... sorry.

If it's low on the horizon, it's dust in the earths atmosphere. That is what gives the moon it's reddish appearance.

reply to post by Angelsoftheapocalypse


Was the sun just starting to set? I am pretty sure the moon is fairly low on your horizon right now no? Color changes can occur when we view the moon through our atmosphere.

I am sure someone will come along with a more scientific answer than that though.

I live in KS. Just went outside and it looks normal to me! The moon is WSW. Looks really nice tonight.

Edit to Add: YAY 200 posts! This is exciting to me. You see, I do not post to often.

reply to post by Blueracer


Yep, about a year ago I watched a cresent moon dip below the horizon and it was
bright red. Dust and smoke in the atmosphere from a bushfire acted like a colour filter.

Originally posted by Angelsoftheapocalypse
Im located in kansas right now, and the moon towards the left tip (its a crescent moon) looks red. I asked a gyy on the street if he sees the color, and he said yes. Does anyone else see it or know what it could po
ssibly be? By the way im on my phone and it cant take a high enough resolution photo to post... sorry.

edit on 12/28/2011 by Angelsoftheapocalypse because: (no reason given)

The atmosphere is the cause. When the moon is lower the white light has to travel through more air and thus the blue part of the spectrum is scattered leaving the less scattered red end.

Ever noticed a redder sunset and sunrise ? Same story......

Oh by the way a really nice red moon occurs (same light scattering) during a lunar eclipse even when the moon is high in the sky. Quite an impressive sight.