Winter storm could unload snow and ice across an extensive area of U.S. next week. Get the forecast. Chevron right
AccuWeather

Ashburn, VA

31°F
Use Current Location
Recent Locations
31° F
No Results Found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Ashburn, VA Weather
Now Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast WinterCast Monthly Air Quality

Around the Globe

Coronavirus Tracker

right arrow

Winter Center

right arrow

Hurricane Tracker

right arrow

Radar & Maps

right arrow

Video

right arrow

News

right arrow

Podcasts

right arrow
Chevron left
Chevron right
News and Features Astronomy Business Health Recreation Sports Travel

News / Weather News

Blood moons explained: Why the moon turns red during lunar eclipses

By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and staff writer

Copied

Sep 30, 2016; 6:00 PM ET Ever wonder why the Moon appears red under a total Lunar Eclipse? We have the answers for you, let's find out.

Several times per decade, the moon passes through Earth's shadow and changes the color from white to "blood" red, but what causes it to change color during a total lunar eclipse?

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly through the Earth’s innermost shadow and can be seen for several hours across half the globe.

Although the moon is passing through the Earth’s shadow, it does not go dark. Instead, the moon appears a rusty orange or dark red.

This change in color can be traced back to the light passing through the Earth’s atmosphere.

“The red component of sunlight passing through Earth's atmosphere is preferentially filtered and diverted into the Earth's shadow where it illuminates the eclipsed moon, making it appear red or 'blood' color,” said Caleb Scharf, director of astrobiology at Columbia University.

Another way to think of this change in color is to imagine standing on the surface of the moon during a total lunar eclipse. When looking at the Earth, you would see every sunrise and sunset happening on Earth at the same time.

A total lunar eclipse as seen from the surface of the moon. (Animation/NASA)

This new color the moon takes on is how total lunar eclipses earned the blood moon nickname.

“'Blood moon' is not a term used in astronomy. It’s more of a popular phrase, perhaps because it sounds so dramatic. It simply refers to a 'total lunar eclipse,'” the Old Farmer’s Almanac reported.

Predicting the color the moon will turn during a total lunar eclipse can be difficult and is determined by certain conditions in Earth’s atmosphere.

"The exact color that the moon appears depends on the amount of dust and clouds in the atmosphere," according to the NASA website.

"If there are extra particles in the atmosphere, from say a recent volcanic eruption, the moon will appear a darker shade of red,” NASA reported.

A rare celestial occurrence as a 'Super Blue Blood Moon' is seen at Santa Monica Beach in Santa Monica, Calf., Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Regardless of the color the moon appears, total lunar eclipses are one of the easiest celestial events to witness in the night sky, as long as cloud-free conditions are present.

Total lunar eclipses typically last for several hours and are visible across a large area of the globe, allowing millions of people to see the moon turn red every time they happen.

“It's one of best astronomical events to witness without any equipment and we know exactly when it's going to happen," AccuWeather Meteorologist and astronomy blogger Dave Samuhel said.


Questions or comments? Email Brian Lada at Brian.Lada@accuweather.com and be sure to follow him on Twitter!
<a href="https://twitter.com/wxlada" class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false">Follow @wxlada</a>
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</em></center>
Report a Typo

Weather News

Health

Daily coronavirus briefing: Chemical burns in children's eye...

Jan. 23, 2021
Winter Weather

'Drought is going to take a good kick in the pants'

Jan. 23, 2021
Severe Weather

Flooding highlights outline of 400-year-old historic site

Jan. 22, 2021
Winter Weather

Swath of snow and ice in store for the Midwest this weekend

Jan. 23, 2021
Winter Weather

Bernie Sanders responds to incredible mitten memes

Jan. 22, 2021
Weather News

Butterfly population 'plummeting toward extinction'

Jan. 22, 2021
video

Snow paints Utah scenery white

Jan. 23, 2021
Business

Tiny corner of US has been isolated from mainland for months

Jan. 21, 2021
Sports

Beautiful day for snowboarding quickly turned terrifying

Jan. 21, 2021
video

Storm drops fresh blanket of snow across much of Scotland

Jan. 23, 2021
video

Wisconsin rescuers pull woman and her dog from icy waters

Jan. 23, 2021
Weather Forecasts

Back-to-back UK storms trigger severe flooding, evacuations

Jan. 22, 2021
video

New study says more sunlight means less COVID transmission

Jan. 22, 2021
video

Syrian refugee camp hit by snowstorm

Jan. 22, 2021
Weather Forecasts

Eloise makes landfall as a dangerous storm

Jan. 23, 2021
video

Lightning, wind and hail strike Catalonia during severe stor...

Jan. 22, 2021
Weather Forecasts

Storm can threaten flooding across snow-weary Japan

Jan. 23, 2021
video

Rescuers save pets from flooding caused by Storm Cristoph

Jan. 22, 2021
Show More Show Less Chevron down

Topics

News and Features

right arrow

Astronomy

right arrow

Business

right arrow

Health

right arrow

Recreation

right arrow

Sports

right arrow

Travel

right arrow

Top Stories

Winter Weather

Disruptive early week snow, ice to spread from Plains east

1 hour ago

Winter Weather

Unfrozen Great Lakes may lead to unusual weather trends

2 hours ago

Health

More sunlight equals less COVID transmission, new study sugg...

1 day ago

Clearing snow from NFL stadiums requires many hands

1 day ago 1:39

Podcast: Look out Midwest, Northeast. Snow and ice is coming...

More Stories

Featured Stories

Fight winter blues with these seasonal affective disorder la... Where do bees go in the winter? AccuWeather School: Create a mini lightning bolt at home
World Chevron right
North America Chevron right
United States Chevron right
Virginia Chevron right
Ashburn
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
AccuWeather Downloads Facebook Twitter AccuWeather TV
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs Podcast
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Shop AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Weather Blogs Winter Weather
AccuWeather Downloads Facebook Twitter AccuWeather TV
© 2020 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | TAG Disclosure | Do Not Sell My Data checkmark Confirmed Not Selling Your Data

We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

I Understand

Get AccuWeather alerts as they happen with our browser notifications.

Notifications Enabled

Thanks! We’ll keep you informed.

FEEDBACK