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Moon

A Strange Pumpkin-Orange Full Moon Rises in the Sky Tonight (space.com) 47

Look at the full moon! Tonight it may appear larger and more orange than usual, reports Space.com, "taking on a fitting appearance for the fall season and for the build-up to Halloween." This is the result of something called the 'moon illusion' and the fact it is being viewed close to the horizon. The orange color comes about because as we look at the full moon close to the horizon, the light that it reflects towards us is passing through more of the Earth's atmosphere than when it is close to overhead. Molecules in Earth's atmosphere are really good at scattering photons of blue light which have shorter wavelengths than red light. This means that blue photons bounce around the sky before hitting our eyeâS — âS and that's why the sky is blue. Longer wavelength red photons slip right through these molecules and straight to our eye for the most part.

When red photons reflected by the moon have to pass through the thickest part of the atmosphere at the horizon, the chance of them being bounced around is increased. That's why the moon appears redder when we look at it close to the horizon....

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A Strange Pumpkin-Orange Full Moon Rises in the Sky Tonight

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  • by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Sunday October 09, 2022 @03:58PM (#62951561)
    Science? Pah! 'Tis a sign of the resurgence of our great lord & leader, the anointed orange one. He is risen. He shall return. His spawn shall hold special office in the gubbermint without qualification, experience, or ability. Praise be!
  • ..pumpkin spiced everything, already on shelves at your local grocery store.

    Now I'm craving a pumpkin spiced latte and it's still like 90F out. Thanks.

    • Elysian Brewing makes some excellent pumpkin beers. I always look forward to their brief appearance, this time of year.

      Last time I was at Costco they actually had a 24 pack of Elysian's four different pumpkin beers... wunderbar!

      • Oh my god, no.

        There was a time when I thought you'd be the kind of person I could sit back and have a beer with.
        Now I can see our differences can only be settled with a set of flintlock pistols.

        I like Elysian- but my god I can't do those pumpkin beers.
        • That's funny, because the seasonal specialty beers they make (the pumpkin ones and *especially* the coffee ones) are really the only Elysian beers I particularly go for - I can take or leave their regular line-up.

  • Outside of a lunar eclipse the moon has looked like the same color to me
    • by GoTeam ( 5042081 )

      Outside of a lunar eclipse the moon has looked like the same color to me

      Need to look right around moon rise and moon set time. Shortly after, the filters are no longer thick enough to be substantial.

  • Linus was right all this time
  • these pumpkin spice promotions by Star Bucks are getting out of hand. When you're borrowing ideas from Cobra [joeguide.com] it's time to pack it in.
  • by BKed ( 6688860 ) on Sunday October 09, 2022 @04:41PM (#62951651)
    At the end it says red photons bounce around more when they travel through thicker atmosphere, but this is misleading. If only red photons did that, the moon would look blue. Blue photons bounce around even more, which results in more red than blue reaching our eyes.
    • Yup. Rayleigh scattering works at the inverse proportion to the wavelength.
      If article indeed says that, it is indeed flat ass backwards.
      Red light (approaching infrared) is almost completely unscattered, relatively speaking.
  • by Anonymouse Cowtard ( 6211666 ) on Sunday October 09, 2022 @05:30PM (#62951747) Homepage
    Does it seem to anyone else that there's a blue/blood/orange/larger/etc Moon story about every three months? And they're always written by someone with the awe and insight of a moron. Astronomy contains a fucking universe of wonder. Yet we're handed schtick like this.
    • People are getting dumber. Don't fault them their simple pleasures.
    • Astronomy contains a fucking universe of wonder. Yet we're handed schtick like this.

      The problem is astronomy isn't sexy. Some person who has never looked up finds out the moon is doing something it constantly does for the first time and writes about it, and then moves on to a different topic.

      Also astronomy may be a universe of wonder but most of that wonder is not visible to the naked eye. Articles will therefore focus on the moon doing its usual thing, eclipses, the position of the few visible planets, and meter showers which occur 3-4 times a year. Anything that requires binoculars or te

    • by imidan ( 559239 )
      I see a "news" story about the full moon every month. I think it started around the time of the total solar eclipse in 2017. Someone decided that Americans like astronomy news, and then quickly discovered that most astronomy news is way more complicated and less immediate than "the sun will briefly go out tomorrow." So we get this crap re-churned month after month.
  • We've been seeing some very orange moons, thanks to smoke from the Bolt Creek fire.

    A feast for the eyes, maybe... but not the lungs.

    • Yup. I live in Seattle (just north of downtown). It's been proper fucked. Light coming in my window this morning was blood red.
  • More strange is that there was no moon in the sky whole summer here in Helsinki Finland. What strikes odd also is that Venus is at NORTH midnight when it should be WEST. Is the Universe Spinning inward? Had moon in the sky week ago in wrong face, was full moon when it should have been crescent.
    • by atol ( 620255 )
      Phase* not face, though one could say face if one thinks moon is a living thing like in that movie by Lumiere.

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