Reason for different colours of Moon

Moon does not have its own light, it just reflects the sunlight. The moon that we are talking about, Earth’s moon is not a good reflector as compared to the other planets or moons as it reflects only around 13 per cent of the light that falls on it. We just see it brighter than other planets because of its closeness with the Earth.

The colour that we see is just a result of the scattering of light (Rayleigh scattering), the same reason due to which the sky is blue. The scattering of reflected sunlight can result in different colours of the moon.

The moon appears mostly yellow at night and white during daytime as we see from Earth. The yellow colour is seen since yellow light is one of less scattered light as the light travels through the atmospheric particles. The red colour though scattered least is not seen because yellow is relatively scattered more in proportion with greater abundance. During the day the moon appears white due to excess sunlight (white light) coming directly from the Sun.

The moon appears blue when the atmospheric particles are of the right size (size close to the wavelength of blue light) to selectively scatter the blue light. This happens mostly in the regions where there is the availability of particles having such size. For instance, aerosols produced from coniferous plants can react with ozone to give such sized particles. The place with an abundance of coniferous plants is likely to visualize the blue moon.

Blue moon, this phrase is often referred to as the moon which is not actually blue to see but a rare moon. Each year offers usually 12 full moons and each full moon occurs every 29 and half days. So in a year, there are approximately 11 more days. That means in three years an extra moon can occur. This moon is called ‘the blue moon’.

The smokes created by factories and fires can produce particles in the atmosphere with a size close to the wavelength of red light. This moon is called ‘the red moon'.

Credits: Sabitha

Comments

The Oldest Phone In The World

The first cellular telephones are called Dyna Tac. It is manufactured from 1983-1994. It received approval from the U.S. FCC on September 21, 1983. Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on April 3, 1973. This is a reenactment in 2007. The dimensions of this phone are 3300 x 898 x 445 mm, vol. 1318710 cm³.This cellular phone is available at the minimum weight of 2 pounds. It is used in the ALOHAnet system, including metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) transceiver and modem technology. It has nine additional key.They are Rcl (recall),Clr (clear),Snd (send),Sto (store),Fn (function),EndPwr (power),Lock and Vol (volume).Minimum sim is used in this phone. In 1983, The market price for this phone is $3,995. In 1930, Travelers could place phone calls from and to ocean liners in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The process was driven by Marine VHF Radio and cost $7 a minute. In 1984 Motoro...

INTERESTING FACTS

Elephants are the only animals that can’t jump. Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different. The only food that don’t spoil is Honey. You can’t kill yourself by holding your breath. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row on the keyboard. People say, ‘Bless you when you sneeze because when you sneeze your heart stops for a millisecond. The longest muscle in the body is the tongue. The most common name in the world is Mohammed. Carbon monoxide can kill a person in less than 15 minutes. The blood of mammals is red, the blood of insects is yellow in colour, the blood of lobsters is blue. The hummingbird, the loon, the swift, the kingfisher and the grebes are all birds that cannot walk. The fastest bird is the Peregrine falcon, clocked at speeds of up to 240 miles per hour. Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects, flying 50 to 60 mph. The elect...

6 Unknown Amazing Spots In The World

Rotura is known as the world’s most remarkable geothermal wonderland, with shooting geysers and bubbling mud pools. While you indulge in relaxation, don’t forget to learn about the fascinating culture of Maori within your side trips. Marvel at the Pangong Tso Lake in Ladakh, Himalayas is the most famous lake in India, this lake isn’t exactly a secret place, but it’s still relatively unvisited. Stretching out for about 160 km, this saltwater lake contains the highest amount of saltwater in the world. The Salar de Uyuni (Salar de Tunupa) in Bolivia is a salt flat that extends to 10,582 square kilometres is considered to be the world’s largest salt flat in the world. Tucked away in Potosi, southwest of Bolivia, this is one of the most beautiful unknown places in the world. Formed as a result of the prehistoric lakes within its surroundings. Dive into the blue lake at Jiuzhaigou National Park (China) is get a glimpse of this 1375-metre-lon...

Home

Search This Blog