User:Banana librarian/Blood moon (astronomy)

The so called blood moon, or red moon, in Astronomy, is an optical phenomenon that occurs when the Moon, instead of having its ordinary light grey color appears reddish, with tints varying between pale brown and brick red.

The phenomenon is caused by Rayleigh scattering of the reflected sunlight by the earth's atmosphere. Its perception is enhanced by atmospheric refraction. It occurs during moonrise and moonset, or during lunar eclipses (an eclipse can be referred to as Blood Moon in english for this reason).