A rumor in the spring of 2016, claiming that the moon would turn green. The green moon occurred because of the planets’ alignment, which will cause an eerie glow, according to EarthSky. But did our celestial neighbor turn green? The celestial body turning green occurrence was on April 20 and again on May 29 for the first time since 1596, according to the rumor.
However, the moon never turned green. The moon usually turns red during a lunar eclipse. Note that a lunar eclipse is when the moon passes through the shadow of Earth. Just like sunset often appears red, sunlight often spreads across as it moves through Earth’s atmosphere, thereby casting a reddish shadow on the lunar surface.
How The Skywatcher Debunked the Green Moon Space Conspiracy
When the rumor began to spread in the spring of 2016, many people were actually looking forward to spotting a green moon over the night sky. However, Skywatching columnist Joe Rao debunked this moon conspiracy. Rao revealed that a full moon actually occurred on April 22nd, 2016.
He also suggested that the expected day, April 20 which was claimed to be the day our celestial neighbor will turn green might be related to “National Weed Day,” popularly referred to as 4/20. This event came into existence because of the last time our celestial neighbor turned green was about 420 years ago. However, this occurrence is never a coincidence.
Rao also explained that the conspiracy is popular as they thought our celestial neighbor adjusted to 4 degrees from the green-hued planet Uranus in the sky on May 29.
“Use your critical-thinking skills, Rao wrote on Space.com. “If something sounds too weird, crazy, or amazing to be true, it probably isn’t true. So, if somebody sends you an email or a tweet, or you see a Facebook post announcing that the moon will turn green on April 20 or May 29, just ignore it. Please?”
