[Physics] Why is the Moon not redder at moonrise/moonset

astronomyatmospheric sciencevisible-light

Okay we all know about Raleigh Scattering, which makes the sky blue. And by the same token, sunsets appear red because sunlight traveling through more atmosphere will "lose more blueness" as it's scattered away.

But what about the Moon? The Moon is just reflected sunlight, so when the Moon is setting on the horizon, it should appear reddish right? But I've never seen that happen.

Now I know lunar eclipses are red, so I'm not discounting the principle of Raleigh Scattering or anything. But there seems to be something else at play causing the normal rising/setting Moon to not turn red.

Best Answer

This is just an opinion, but the moon on the horizon is simply less visible than the sun is. I suspect that color changes it makes are more subtle and less easily noticed. However full moons are often noticeably orange. Here is a page with a wonderful time lapse view.

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http://www.pikespeakphoto.com/moon-rising.html