What does the moon look like where you are at?

Question

Here it is very low and red. And, why does it look like this? What's going on?

I'm in IL.

Answer 1

Mines actually 3/4 full and is smaller then ever. its darkish- orange, quite weird. i think b/c of the season, havent seen it like this before. I like it

Answer 2

Bright white down here in El Paso, Tx.

Answer 3

When the moon is low in the sky, the sunlight reflected off it has to travel through more atmosphere to get to you (than when you see it "above" you").   The white sunlight is composed of a whole spectrum of colors, and the blue light rays scatter more easily than those on the red end of the spectrum.

So the red light gets to you, while the blue light is scattered away.  This happens more strongly where you have lots of pollution or other particulates (e.g., dust storm...or smoke, such as from wildfires) in the air that can scatter the blue light.

Note that this is the same reason a sunset is red, not blue.  It's when the sun is low in the sky, and the light must pass through lots of atmosphere to get to you...  :-)

(and yet another side note, the scattered blue light is why the sky looks blue.)

Answer 4

Here is the answer you weren't expecting: ... :-)

I see the moon as it is mostly graphically represented: slightly tilted. That's because I live in Northern Europe; a latitude where most of astronomy has been recorded.

But if you live e.g. in South America or anywhere on the southern hemisphere, you will see the moon upside down.

The reason is that since the moon doesn't have a declination more than +5 to -5 degrees with our equator, in the northern hemisphere, we see it as rising from the east, moving to the south, the setting at the west.

But in the southern hemisphere, the moon goes over the north - as does the sun, for the matter.

You then see the moon upside down because ... you look at it upside down!

Otherwise, you've already got answers telling you why the moon looks redish when low over the horizon.

Answer 5

probably a lunar eclipse lasting days or maybe a illusion caused by the earth