We need to know the actual color of the moon. During this time the moon has often seen changing colors, but what color are they really? Of course, this makes anyone curious and becomes an interesting month fact.
If you look at the moons, they can be seen with different hues. Some of the colors of the moon that have been seen are gray, yellow, white, and also red.
The moon will change hues at certain times and also due to its own factors. This color difference raises debate and also curiosity about the true hue of the Earth’s satellite.
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What Color is the Moon Actually?
Just like other planets, Earth also has a natural satellite. One of Earth’s natural satellites that greatly influences the conditions on this planet is the moon.
The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth and always rotates about it. If you pay attention to its size, the moon is the fifth largest natural satellite in the order of all natural satellites in the Solar System.
If you look at it from Earth, the moon will appear to have a bright light. However, the fact is that the moon does not produce its own light.
Earth’s natural satellite has light that comes from the reflection of sunlight. The moon emits the light so it looks bright.
What Color Moonlight?
The moon can be seen quite clearly from Earth, especially during a full moon. If you look at it with the naked eye at night, it will appear to have a slightly yellow hue.
If you look at the moon during the day, it will appear bluish-white. Apart from being white and yellowish, the moon can also be seen to have a red hue when it is in a lower position.
Meanwhile, when you take a closer look at the moon with the help of a telescope or through photos taken from the space observatory, it will be clear that the color of the moon is actually gray with a little black.
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Yes, actually the original color of this satellite is what you see from the photos taken by the space telescope. This is because the images are relatively loose and also not affected by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Why Does the Color of the Moon Look Gray?
Now maybe the question is how come the moon has a gray hue? Why not brown or black?
In fact, the color of the moon actually comes from an alloy of elements such as aluminum, silicon, magnesium, and calcium which are mixed with oxygen content.
Rocks with lighter hues are known as plagioclase feldspar. Meanwhile, rocks that are more glassy are called pyroxene.
Most of the rocks on the surface of the moon are volcanic rocks that come out of the bowels of the moon when volcanoes erupt. Areas that have black spots are lunar maria.
Its properties can be less good at reflecting light, so that the Earth from the earth will look a little darker. Lunar maria covers only 16 percent of the moon’s surface and is most often facing Earth until it is visible to humans.
As a result, the moon from Earth looks black and dark. But it is actually gray because of the volcanic rocks on the surface and the iron and titanium content.
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The Reason the Moon’s Color Actually Changes
Of course there is a reason behind why the color of the moon can change. When watching the moon from Earth, there is actually a barrier called the atmosphere.
The Earth’s atmosphere blocks our view directly. Particles contained in the atmosphere will cause light waves to cause the color of the moon to be different from the original.
When the moon is not very high, the hue that appears to the human eye is the faint blue of Earth’s atmosphere. While there is also a red color that is still there and makes it look reddish.
Meanwhile, when the moon is in a high position, blocking from the Earth’s atmosphere will cause the moon to appear bluish-white during the day. This is what makes the hue of the moon vary over time.
On Earth itself, there has also been a phenomenon in the form of a red moon eclipse, aka blood moon, which makes the moon appear in various colors.
This is one of the signs that the moon has many hues due to the reflection effect of the Earth’s atmosphere. However, the actual color of the moon is still gray. (R10/HR-Online)
