On the night of Thursday, October 21, observers will be able to admire an orange-colored full moon in the sky.
In the 19th century, before the settlement of what is now the United States and Canada, Native Americans gave the October full moon a very special name: Hunter’s Moon. The reason for this was that its appearance heralded the arrival of winter and therefore the need to stock up on food for the cold season. It was also known as the blood moon because of the subsequent hunt.
Apart from this curious historical fact, one of the natural peculiarities of the Earth’s satellite on this day is its color. As it appears shortly after sunset, its normally white-grey color turns orange or red – which also explains its nickname “blood moon”.
This is known as Rayleigh scattering, a natural phenomenon in which light waves are scattered by particles smaller than their wavelength. It is also the reason for the change in color of the daytime or twilight sky and the yellowish to reddish tint of the low sun.
Science enthusiasts and casual observers can admire the rising of the hunter’s moon on the night of October 20 at around 7.00 pm.