India, Aug. 20 -- Skywatchers across the country have taken to social media this week to ask why the moon has taken on a deep orange hue, a colour change that astronomers say has nothing to do with the lunar surface itself and everything to do with conditions in Earth's own atmosphere.

The phenomenon, which tends to resurface every few months and prompts a fresh wave of public curiosity each time, is rooted in basic physics rather than any unusual lunar event, according to explanations published by NASA and observatories that track night-sky conditions.

What Causes The Moon To Turn Orange?

As moonlight travels through Earth's atmosphere, shorter wavelengths of light, such as blue and violet, scatter more easily than longer wavelengths ...