Red Planet Red Moon and Mars
Explanation:
Mars is also known as
The Red Planet,
often seen with a reddish tinge in dark night skies.
Mars shines brightly at the upper left of this
gorgeous morning twilight view from Mornington Peninsula,
Victoria, Australia, but the Moon and planet Earth look redder still.
Taken on July 27, the totally eclipsed Moon is setting.
It looks reddened because the
Earth's umbral shadow isn't completely dark.
Instead Earth's shadow is suffused with a faint red light from all the
planet's sunsets and sunrises seen from the
perspective of an eclipsed
Moon.
The sunsets and sunrises are reddened because Earth's
atmosphere scatters blue light more strongly than red, creating
the faint bluish twilight sky.
Of course,
craggy seaside rocks also
take on the reddened colors of this Australian sunrise.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
