Why Does the Moon Appear Giant Red During the Total Lunar Eclipse?
Lunar eclipses - When a lunar eclipse occurs and our lone satellite inches into Earth's shadow, the moon's face becomes painted red.
Earth's shadow - When the moon starts to pass into the central portion of Earth's shadow, called the umbra, that's when the fiery glow stands out.
Blood Moons - When the moon is within the umbra, it will turn a reddish hue. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called 'Blood Moons' because of this phenomenon.
Light scatters scattering - As for why the moon looks red, it has to do with the way that light scatters.
Total lunar eclipse - During a total lunar eclipse, the sun, Earth, and moon are perfectly lined up so that our Blue Planet blocks the sun's rays from hitting the moon.
Reflection on the moon - Even though Earth is way bigger than the sun, the light rays are able to bend around the edges of our planet before being reflected onto the moon.
Earth's atmosphere - The sun's light first passes through Earth's atmosphere; and during that trek, particles in the atmosphere preferentially scatter the shorter-wavelength blue light.
Moon's surface - In that way, the longer-wavelength orange and red light bathe the moon's surface.