When I say ‘like I’m 5’ I mean it, explain it for my dumb little brain please.
In: 3
(Truly ELI5)
The Harvest Moon is red when the moon rises during sunset.
> Why are sunsets red?
Sunlight bounces off particles in the atmosphere. When the sun is directly above you, sunlight doesn’t have to travel very far through the atmosphere to reach your eye, so the light wavelengths are shorter, making the sky blue; the shortest light wavelength.
When the sun sets, sunlight has to travel through a lot more atmosphere because of the curvature of the Earth. The light has to travel further, stretching the wavelength, making the sunset colours yellow, orange, and red.
> Why is the Harvest Moon red?
When the moon is above you, it’s blue, even if it’s a Harvest Moon. But when the moon specifically rises during a sunset, the blue-ish moonlight turns red (because of the wavelengths), making the moon red.
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