Friday the 13th full moon may have orange glow at times

The orange hue appears closer to sunset and sunrise next few days

Photo: Connie Leathers

ROANOKE, Va. – A Friday the 13th full moon is pretty rare, even though the last one only happened in 2014. The next won't won't happen until 2049.

According to Tony Rice, an Ambassador to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, only 89 Friday the 13th full moons have happened in the last 1,000 years. 

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The part that's garnered a lot of attention on social media has to do with the orange glow some of us may see. This really has to do with an effect from the atmosphere. 

The past few days, and now especially Friday and Saturday, the moon will be rising close to when the sun is setting. It will also be setting close to when the sun is rising.

The moon being close to the horizon means that it's passing through more atmosphere, which tends to make it appear bigger and at times have a glow to it. That's especially the case when there's a little bit of sunlight for it to feed off of.

The unfortunate thing is that we'll be dealing with a lot of clouds Friday evening and Saturday morning. Come Saturday evening and Sunday morning, still be sure to take a look toward the horizon. If you see that orange glow, be sure to snap a picture and send it our way.


About the Author

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.

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