Discussion about Lunar eclipse with a 8-year-old
☀️ 🌍 🌕
Being part of a local astronomy club is very rewarding. Some evenings, I help out at the observatory by guiding visitors through the night sky. Our visitors may be from other clubs, school classes, or simply groups of curious people.
When we're looking at the night sky together, there's a sense of awe. Seeing more objects through a telescope than one can truly grasp, evokes an inspiring yet humbling experience. I often encounter baffled reactions to just how vast the universe is when we speak of distances in light-years. They usually ask "Are we alone? Could there be more life out there?"
This night, the sky was covered with thin clouds with occasional clearings. Under such conditions, I would normally pack up, but we decided to try anyway. We managed to observe some deep sky objects and the moon.
Then there was a young boy, perhaps 8 years old. After he looked at the Moon through the telescope, he began to quietly talk about another moon, "So now we've seen the yellow Moon. Where is the other red one?”. “The other red Moon?” I asked, a little hesitant.
I felt a small urge to explain that we only have one, but I wanted to hear how he was thinking. He seemed a little unsure as he told his story, but explained that he had read a book with pictures of our moons. One red, and one yellow. The moons were opposite each other, with Earth in between.
At first, I thought to myself that maybe he had read some kind of science fiction book, but as he described the alignment, it suddenly made sense.
When he had finished, I answered carefully, “That yellow moon is actually the Sun. And when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon. But some of the sunlight bends through Earth's atmosphere and reaches the moon's surface and it's this light that gives the Moon its red color. We have only one moon but it can 'change color'.”
The book he had read described the phenomena of a lunar eclipse, often referred to as a “blood moon.” (The color usually vary in different shades of red, or in very rare cases blue, depending on the conditions of Earth's atmosphere.)
Seeing his expression light up as he understood took me by surprise. He repeated, “So it was the Sun I saw — we only have one Moon!”
There are many young children who know so much about space. Meeting and talking with them is one of the most enriching experiences. They know much more than I knew at that age and I'm beyond impressed by their ability to learn. At times it feels as though I am learning just as much as I am guiding. It is genuinely heartwarming to be able to share these moments, they are truly memorable.