Total Lunar Eclipse: This is why it has red Moon
Celestial event currently takes place as Moon is cast in deep, coppery-red hue
March 14, 2025
A Total Lunar Eclipse is currently taking place, a celestial event that began yesterday (Thursday) night and will continue till today (Friday).
The Moon is cast in a deep, coppery-red hue and the eclipse can be observed from the Earth’s Western Hemisphere, reported Al Jazeera.
It is worth noting that a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth positions itself directly between the Sun and the Moon, obstructing sunlight and casting a shadow over the Moon’s surface.
Why is the Eclipse Moon red?
The Moon turns red or orange during a Total Lunar Eclipse.
Moreover, the only sunlight that reaches the Moon has to first pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.
The sunlight bumps into dust particles, water droplets and atmospheric gases there.
Additionally, a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering comes into play.
In this phenomenon, colours of the sunlight that are associated with longer wavelengths scatter less and are able to make it around the Earth to reach the Moon, while shorter wavelength colours scatter everywhere else and never make it to the Moon.
As anyone who has seen a rainbow or observed a prism knows, the colours in sunlight range from violet (the shortest wavelength) to red (the longest wavelength).
Giving the Earth’s only natural satellite that colour, the red light that makes it to the eclipsed moon reflects off its surface.
A Total Lunar Eclipse is not rare, however, it does not happen frequently either as there are usually a few every decade.
