Thursday, November 05, 2009
Nada
Too tired to write tonight - no jokes, not even a good link. The 3 fun-sized Snickers I consumed this evening may have something to do with my current malaise. I'm going to bed (before midnight!). But if someone could explain to me why lately the moon looks orange while it's rising but not orange when it is way up in the sky, I sure would appreciate it.
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I have nada to offer too. I'm going to bed and thanking God that my son is at Ft Lee and not Ft Hood tonight. Count your blessings.
ReplyDeleteBecause you are looking through more atmosphere at that angle and the other wavelengths of light get scattered before red/orange/yellow do.
ReplyDeleteSame reason the sun gets all orange or pink or red if there's smoke in the air.
This is coming from my husband the rocket scientist (no really).....When the moon is on the horizon the moonlight is going farther through the atmosphere than when it is directly overhead. The farther distance scatters more of the colors and you end up only seeing orange or yellow...........He was telling me this as I was writing.....I'm still confused. He even drew me a diagram.
ReplyDeleteHas the Harvest Moon already passed or could this be it? Is it lower and orange so it puts off more light, allowing the farmers extra time to harvest? Or something like that? I suppose I could Google it, but that seems like too much work . . . speculation is far more fun.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing (remembering?) that the color of the moon has something to do with the particles in the atmosphere/haze on the horizon?
ReplyDeleteI was too p.o.'ed last night about events at Ft. Hood to respond.
When the moonlight passes through more atmosphere the longer (bluer) wavelengths are scattered away, and the moon appears red. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, some of the blue light is scattered, making the sky appear blue, but most of the light passes through unscattered and appears white during the day. And this is why, when your child asks you, "Why is the sky blue?" the correct answer is, "Shut up."
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