The moon is orange!

[Dougal Mulldoon]

Go outside and look to the south, near the horizon, the moon is full and orange. Chilean dust cloud?

[????]

Rapture

[Alan Medic]

It's not the feckin 12th yet is it?

[Huguenot]

The effect is created by the alignment of the sun, earth and moon, and is most apparent when the moon is close to the horizon.

It's because red light (with a longer wavelength) gets bent less as it travels through the earths atmosphere than shorter blue wavelengths.

When the sun is 'behind' the earth from the moon's point of view, all the light reaching it is travelling through the earth's atmosphere. All the blue light gets scattered, but the red light charges on through in a straight line and falls upon the moon.

When the moon is close to the horizon, the low angle of view means the light reflected has to go through more of the atmosphere before it reaches our eyes - making the red effect even more dramatic!

[Alan Medic]

Does it look pretty though?

[maxxi]

Huguenot Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The effect is created by the alignment of the sun,

> earth and moon, and is most apparent when the moon

> is close to the horizon.

>

> It's because red light (with a longer wavelength)

> gets bent less as it travels through the earths

> atmosphere than shorter blue wavelengths.

>

> When the sun is 'behind' the earth from the moon's

> point of view, all the light reaching it is

> travelling through the earth's atmosphere. All the

> blue light gets scattered, but the red light

> charges on through in a straight line and falls

> upon the moon.

>

> When the moon is close to the horizon, the low

> angle of view means the light reflected has to go

> through more of the atmosphere before it reaches

> our eyes - making the red effect even more

> dramatic!

When you are experiencing a particularly explosive 'petite mort' do you bang on about the "involuntary, or autonomic, limbic system, muscular spasms in multiple areas of the body, autonomic physiologic responses and the importance of the limbic system" or make do with an "Aaaaargh"?

[Frankito]

It doesn't bear thinking about...

[Salsaboy]

Oh but it does, in a peculiar way.

[Huguenot]

I prefer to have a grand mal than a petite mort, the whole band.

[Applespider]

As Huguenot says - it's to do with alignment but there was a lunar eclipse that night which allows for the more extreme than usual colour.

maxxi - I'm giggling...

[Huguenot]

Pearls to swine, Applespider, pearls to swine...