Why is the moon yellow orange-ish sometimes?

Question

I went outside earlier tonight (7-17-08) and the moon looked orange-ish.Why?

Answer 1

This effect is caused by the atmosphere of the earth. The reason for the orange color is due to the scattering of light by the atmosphere. When the moon is near the horizon, the moonlight must pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. By the time the moonlight reaches your eyes, the blue, green, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. That's why you only see yellow, orange, or red.

The moon can have an orange color at any time of the year. Sometimes the moon appears orange even when it's directly overhead. This occurs when there's a lot of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere. The size of those particles will determine the type of color you will see.

Answer 2

Particles in the air such as smoke and smog (pollution) can affect the appearance of the moon and the sun.

Answer 3

For the same reason sunrises and sunsets are that color.  When the moon is low on the horizon, the light is coming through more of our atmosphere, which filters out some colors of light more than others.

Answer 4

cause its made of cheese. duuhh

Answer 5

Smog  or  Fire in our atmosphere.

Answer 6

Sad to say...but sometimes pollution looks beautiful! ;p

Answer 7

Because of the angle. Our atmosphere acts as a light filter. When the light has to move through more atmosphere, other light gets filtered out. Similar to when we have a lunar eclipse. The earth's atmosphere filter's out a lot of light, but some gets through and the moon can look red or orange.