Has the Moon ever appeared to be orange or even almost red to you?

Why does the Moon sometimes appear orange?

The Moon sometimes appears to have an orange tint even if there isn’t a lunar eclipse. During certain times of the year, it travels across the sky closer to the horizon than normal. Does this relate to the unusual colouration? Yes. It may disappoint that the Moon doesn’t actually turn orange, it still remains grey. Thanks to the Earth’s atmosphere, the Moon can appear a different colour.

Nitrogen. Oxygen. The Earth’s atmosphere is filled with these gas molecules. They scatter bluer light the most which is why the sky appears blue during the day. On the other hand, redder light refracts through. Anything “behind” the Earth’s atmosphere will be illuminated with mostly red light.

This is what happens to the Moon when it appears close to the horizon. The Sun’s light passes through a thicker layer of the atmosphere, which happens to be aligned with the Moon’s position. Only the red light refracts though and illuminates the lunar disc. It also happens during a Total Solar Eclipse (when the Moon is in the Earth’s umbra).

When to Observe

In the UK, or the Northern Hemisphere in general, this can be observed during the summer months. It is more obvious when in the lunar cycle, it is closer to Full Moon. Not only will the red light appear to illuminate more of the Moon’s surface, the Moon will also appear to cross the sky closer to the horizon. The opposite is in the Winter, when it culminates the highest in the sky.

For the Southern Hemisphere, the best time to observe an “orange Moon” is in the Winter as this is when the Moon culminates the lowest in the sky.

Photographing

^An Orange Moon, taken on 16th August 2024 (Credits: Olesya Rtveliashvili)

Typically, the optimal camera settings depend on the day. It can change according to how light the sky is or how bright/dim the object being photographed is. For the photograph above, I used an exposure time of 1/100 seconds and ISO 800. I found that this gives me a good result, otherwise the Moon appeared too bright or dim.

Whilst it’s still close to the Summer Solstice, see if the Moon appears orange/red close to the horizon. Sometimes the colour appears much brighter in real life than on camera!