A NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day entry for November 1, 2026 features a collection of apparent full moon colors captured by one astrophotographer over 10 years from different locations across Italy.

The accompanying explanation notes that outside Earth's atmosphere the dark Moon, which shines by reflected sunlight, appears a brown-tinged gray. A red- or yellow-colored moon usually indicates a moon seen near the horizon, where some blue light has been scattered away by a long path through the atmosphere, sometimes laden with fine dust. A blue moon is rarer and can indicate an atmosphere carrying larger dust particles. The cause of the purple moon is unclear and may involve a combination of effects. The last image captures the total lunar eclipse of July 2018, when the moon in Earth's shadow appeared a faint red due to light refracted through air around the Earth.

The image is credited to Marcella Giulia Pace, with authors and editors listed as Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti and Keighley Rockcliffe.