"It's something fun to see - it's benign, but it's a change. "We can get really good science out of what happens to the surface of the moon during total lunar eclipses, but again, the cool thing is that the moon changes color," Noah Petro, a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told. Scientists like to watch lunar eclipses, too. The Earth blocks the sun during a total lunar eclipse, as seen from the moon. Other atmospheric factors such as temperature and humidity also affect the moon's appearance during a lunar eclipse. "How gold, orange, or red the moon appears during a total lunar eclipse depends on how much dust, water, and other particles are in Earth's atmosphere" according to NASA scientists (opens in new tab). When the moon passes through Earth's umbra during a total lunar eclipse, the red light reflects off the lunar surface, giving the moon its blood-red appearance. Shorter wavelengths such as blue light are scattered outward, while longer wavelengths like red are bent - or refracted - into Earth's umbra, according to the Natural History Museum (opens in new tab). When sunlight reaches Earth, our atmosphere scatters and filters different wavelengths.
The eerie red appearance is caused by sunlight interacting with Earth's atmosphere.
(Image credit: Future) (opens in new tab) What happens during a lunar eclipse? Why does the moon turn red during an eclipse?ĭuring a total lunar eclipse, the lunar surface turns a rusty red color, earning the nickname " blood moon". In this diagram, the moon is located in the penumbral shadow so it is experiencing a penumbral eclipse. During a total lunar eclipse, the umbra completely covers the lunar surface. Whether the moon sits in the penumbra or umbra will dictate the type of lunar eclipse. During a lunar eclipse the sun, Earth and moon align so that Earth blocks sunlight from reaching the moon and casts a shadow across the lunar surface.
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