Amazon Quiz: Due to which reason, does the moon appear in shades of red during this phenomenon?
Reflection
Refraction
Radiation
Propagation
Answer: Refraction
During the lunar eclipse, the moon appears in shades of red, and yet the celestial body doesn’t have any light of its own. Thus, the explanation behind its colour can be traced to the reflection of sunlight.
What happens is that the earth moves in between the sun and the moon. This cuts off the direct supply of light and prevents us from seeing the usual colour of the moon. Instead, what people on earth see is a reddish glow. Thus, total lunar eclipses have earned the moniker of blood moons.
When the light of the sun goes to the moon, those with shorter wavelengths get scattered. This happens to the violets and blues on the spectrum. So, out of VIBGYOR (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red), the wavelengths keep increasing, as one moves toward the end of the acronym. Accordingly, orange and red, which have longer wavelengths, pass through the atmosphere.
The red-orange light then gets refracted around the earth and hits the moon’s surface. There are different shades of red visible during a lunar eclipse. This impacts how dark the eclipse appears to those on earth. In the case of a dark eclipse, the moon appears grey or brown. For a rust-coloured eclipse, we see a dark central shadow and a lighter area on the outside edge. If the umbral shadow has a yellow edge, it is likely to be a brick-red eclipse. Finally, for copper-red or orange eclipses, the umbral shadow will have a turquoise or bluish edge.
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