Colors of the Moon
What color is the Moon? It depends on the night -- and the time. Outside of the Earth's atmosphere, the dark Moon, which shines by reflected sunlight, appears a magnificently brown-tinged gray. The featured image highlights a collection of apparent colors of the full moon on Earth, documented by one astrophotographer over 10 years from different locations across Italy. A red- or yellow-colored moon usually indicates a moon seen near the horizon. There, some of the blue light has been scattered away by a long path through the Earth's atmosphere, sometimes laden with fine dust. A blue-colored moon is more rare and can indicate an atmosphere carrying larger dust particles. What created the purple moon is unclear -- it may be a combination of several effects. The last image captures the total lunar eclipse of 2018 July -- where the moon, in Earth's shadow, appeared a faint red -- due to light refracted through air around the Earth. Have you ever seen an unusually colorful Moon?
As the lunar surface shifts through a spectrum of ethereal hues, we are reminded that even a familiar satellite can transform under the play of light and shadow. This celestial dance of color serves as a terrestrial mirror to the distant, frozen mysteries of GJ 357 d, a world orbiting a nearby red dwarf just 9.44 parsecs away. While our Moon reflects the sun's brilliance, GJ 357 d waits in the dim twilight of its habitable zone, potentially cradling liquid water beneath a veil of atmosphere that could one day reveal its own cosmic palette.