Selene full on

The full moon riding the clouds and skimming the hedge at the bottom of our garden

If you live at a higher latitude than the 'Tropic of Cancer' or lower than the 'Tropic of Capricorn', have you noticed that in summer, when during the day the Sun rides high in the sky, the moon by night hugs the horizon? In winter there is a reversal of fortunes and by day it is the sun that hangs low in the sky whilst by night the moon sails high and serene above.

For the last two nights the moon as viewed from our backyard has hugged the tree tops. It has also looked significantly redder than usual.  The light from our sun reflected by the surface of the moon has had to travel through more of our atmosphere ( a low moon implies the light rays pass more obliquely through the thin layer of air that surrounds our planet). Light in the blue wavelengths is scattered and extinguished more effectively by the earth's atmosphere than red light and as a consequence the moon when low in the sky looks redder than usual. It is also the reason why the sky appears blue.

Peeking

Selene lost in the foliage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Cancer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Capricorn