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How about the moon?
The sun and the moon remain relatively stationary in relation to the earth's rotation from west to east, so both of them seem to rise from the eastern horizon and set in the western horizon.
Why does the moon appear in different colors?
The natural color of the moon is grey as seen in space, however, it appears in different colors during the course of its path across the sky.
Viewed during the day on Earth, the moon looks faint and white in the blue sky. At night, the moon appears bright and yellow.
At moonrise near the horizon, the particles in the atmosphere scatter certain wavelengths of light, mainly the blue end of the spectrum. The moon passes through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead, thus you see the moon appearing orange or red. As the moon gradually climbs directly overhead, its color changes to yellow. In addition, high volume of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere could cause the zenith moon to appear orange.
Moreover, the moon appears in certain colors during certain times of the year. The earth's atmosphere goes through seasonal changes due to human activities and the earth's changing tilt toward the sun. Subsequently, the moon rises and sets at different angles and appears in different colors. Sometimes, the moon remains close to the horizon, never rising above your head!
As many farmers harvest their crops in autumn, adding dust particles to the atmosphere, and the moon being in a lower position in the sky during the bumper season, the full moon appears very large and orange, known as the "harvest moon."
The color of the moon could even be blue. They are rare occurrences known as Tyndall Effect, probably due to particles in the air because of many volcanic events around the globe or massive forest fires.
The term "blue moon" commonly refers to a month wherein there are two full moons.
The moon's surface is illuminated by direct sunlight as it revolves around the earth. The luminosity of the moon depends on the phases of the moon. There are 8 phases of the moon seen in one month. The moon is at its brightest during its "full moon" phase.
Why the moon appears larger at the horizon?
Like the sun, the moon appears larger at moonrise and moonset at the horizon. To this day, there's no satisfactory answer for the "moon illusion'.
To solve the mystery is an inspiration itself!
