Tint the moon from white to deep red as it sinks, and darker still in an eclipse

A moon that stays white all night is a missed chance for a dread-soaked scene: low on the horizon it is orange, and in a story eclipse it should be the colour of a wound. Choosing the tints by eye gives muddy results. Here is the physical reason, a simple formula that follows it, and how to avoid its blow-up at the horizon.

Why this works

Low in the sky, light travels through far more air, and air scatters blue away much faster than red. What is left is red and dim, which is why the setting moon looks that way and why you can estimate it from the height alone.

When not to use it

Skip it in a stylised or fantasy sky where the moon colour is part of the story, such as a blue moon that means danger. Set that colour by hand, since real air would wash it out.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 19 lines of example code with 4 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Tint the moon from white to deep red as it sinks, and darker still in an eclipse" (read_entry moon-turns-red-near-the-horizon) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP