The full moon this past March took on a dramatic and eerie look as it glowed red, thanks to a combination of Saharan dust and atmospheric filtering. The blood-red moon was an unusual sight for stargazers, lending an otherworldly tone to the night sky.
Every year, millions of tons of dust are swept up from the deserts of North Africa and carried by the wind across vast stretches of the Atlantic Ocean. This phenomenon, known as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL), can have a profound effect on the atmosphere and weather patterns around the globe. But on this particular night, its most noticeable impact was on the appearance of our celestial neighbor.
As the moonlight passed through the Earth’s atmosphere, it interacted with the particles of dust, scattering the light and causing the moon to take on a reddish hue. This is a process known as Rayleigh scattering, named after the British scientist Lord Rayleigh who first studied it in the 19th century. It’s the same effect that causes sunsets and sunrises to appear red, orange, or pink. But to see it transform the full moon into a glowing red orb was truly a sight to behold.
The event was captured in a composite image by a team of photographers, who stitched together multiple shots to create a stunning representation of the moon’s unique glow. The image captures the stark contrast between the red moon and the dark blue of the night sky, accentuating the moon’s unusual coloration.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a red moon, of course. Lunar eclipses, which occur when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow, often result in a ‘blood moon’. This is due to the Earth’s atmosphere bending sunlight into the shadow and scattering the shorter-wavelength light (like blue and green) out of our line of sight. What remains is the longer-wavelength red and orange light that then gets cast onto the moon, making it appear red.
However, this red moon was not the result of an eclipse but of an interplay of atmospheric conditions and Saharan dust. It’s a reminder of the complex and fascinating processes that take place in our skies and how they can affect our view of the cosmos.
The red moon also serves as a stark reminder of the vastness and interconnectedness of our world. Dust from the Sahara can affect not just our weather but also how we see celestial bodies. It’s a small reminder of the profound and far-reaching impacts that seemingly distant and disconnected parts of our world can have on each other.
The next full moon, known as the Pink Moon, will occur in April. While it won’t turn literal pink, it will be a spectacle worth witnessing. And who knows? Perhaps we’ll be treated to another dramatic display courtesy of Mother Nature’s atmospheric palette.
Read more from the original source here: [https://www.space.com/stargazing/the-march-full-moon-glows-red-through-saharan-dust-in-eerie-composite-view](https://www.space.com/stargazing/the-march-full-moon-glows-red-through-saharan-dust-in-eerie-composite-view).