Blood Moon in Cheongshim
20413 Lee Seoyeong
Have you seen the moon on Tuesday night, September 8th? During 2nd period study hall, I remember running out onto the schoolyard with my friends to see the moon. Many other students and teachers had already been outside, taking pictures of the moon, all the while making a wish. What made this moon so special?
From 7:16 PM to 8:41PM on the 8th of October, there was a total lunar eclipse in South Korea. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, thereby immersing the Moon in the umbra of its shadow. In Korean, this phenomenon is called “월식(月蝕),” the term originating from the spectacle resembling the moon getting eaten. In English, it is also often referred to as the “blood moon,” because of its reddish hue. Why does the moon turn red when on normal days, it appears to be white? The science behind the red moon is Rayleigh scattering.Rayleigh scattering is a Physics phenomenon that explains the relationship between wavelengths and the way light scatters. Simply put, short waves like the color blue are more easily scattered compared to longer waves like the color red. When the moon enteres the Umbra (the dark center portion of the shadow) during a lunar eclipse, the path of direct sunlight is blocked by the Earth. Thus, the light from the Sun passes instead through the side of the Earth, scattering it in Earth’s atmosphere. By the time sunlight reaches the moon, only longer wavelengths remain, making the moon appear to be red.
1) the blood mood seen at our school
3) the lunar eclipse and Uranus occulation coinciding
What made this eclipse all the more special was that it coincided with the Uranus occultation. Both events are set to take place together only once during the period of 1600 to 2300. This means the next time we observe this phenomenon is going to be more than 200 years later, making the recent lunar eclipse a one-in-a-lifetime experience.
I hope you made delightful memories with the eclipse and your friends. In case you missed this big show, I prepared a picture of the red moon I took at school.