What kind of atmosphere would a planet have if the moons appeared

[Skidmore]

to be lavender in color? I was listening to some discussion program last week and one of the participants said something about "a planet with 3 lavender moons." Can't even remember the context but it was a serious science discussion, not poetry or sci fi. It has stuck in my head and I keep wondering what such a world/system must be like to be able to view such a sight. Caught my imagination and I hope some of our science minded people here could educate me/us.

[Bucky]

1. Are you sure they meant lavender the color and not lavender the flower?

Three moons made out of lavender flowers would be so romantic that the planet they were orbiting would become quickly overpopulated, leading to mass starvation, ecological degradation, and rampant political violence. But on the plus side, it would all be for love.

[HopeHoops]

2. It may have nothing to do with the atmosphere of the planet, or the moons.

Mars is reddish in color because of high iron content. The composition of the moons could explain any color even with a complete lack of atmosphere on the moons and the planet. And with three moons, there's the possibility that they are all part of the same original body, broken up and captured in that planet's orbit. As for "lavender", it might have to do with a high concentration of scented body soap compounds in the soil. :evilgrin:

[Posteritatis]

3. A moon's colour wouldn't determine the atmosphere's composition. (nt)

[BeFree]

4. Blue moons not good enough?

Now you want Lavender? Wouldn't we all end up wearing pink tutus?

[Selatius]

5. Incidentally, the existence of a moon around a planet could've possibly signaled a massive collision

The most popular scientific theory nowadays to explain the existence of our moon was another body about the size of Mars impacting on Earth in the distant past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO45ZiGql8E&feature=related

[mzteris]

6. some interesting links for you:

http://www.universetoday.com/19626/color-of-the-moon/

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/titan.htm

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/saturn-moons-graffiti-101013.html


"Why is the Moon Red During a Total Lunar Eclipse?

During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. Astronauts on the Moon would then see the Earth completely eclipse the Sun. (They would see a bright red ring around the Earth as they watched all the sunrises and sunsets happening simultaneousely around the world!) While the Moon remains completely within Earth's umbral shadow, indirect sunlight still manages to reach and illuminate it. However, this sunlight must first pass deep through the Earth's atmosphere which filters out most of the blue colored light. The remaining light is a deep red or orange in color and is much dimmer than pure white sunlight. Earth's atmosphere also bends or refracts some of this light so that a small fraction of it can reach and illuminate the Moon.

The total phase of a lunar eclipse is so interesting and beautiful precisely because of the filtering and refracting effect of Earth's atmosphere. If the Earth had no atmosphere, then the Moon would be completely black during a total eclipse. Instead, the Moon can take on a range of colors from dark brown and red to bright orange and yellow. The exact appearance depends on how much dust and clouds are present in Earth's atmosphere. Total eclipses tend to be very dark after major volcanic eruptions since these events dump large amounts of volcanic ash into Earth's atmosphere. During the total lunar eclipse of December 1992, dust from Mount Pinatubo rendered the Moon nearly invisible. http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/LEprimer.html

[Xithras]

7. If the starting color of the moon was red, you'd just need high altitude haze.

A high altitude hydrocarbon haze would filter much of the reflected red light from the moons surface. The result would be a purple moon. Changing it to lavender is just a simple adjustment to the intensity of the red on the surface. A geologically "dead" red moon with a surface that has been bleached by solar exposure (similar to the "whitening" of our own dark grey lunar soils over the past few billion years), could easily be faint enough to appear as lavender after the reflected light is filtered through the atmosphere.

That would be a pretty nasty atmosphere though. Nothing we'd want to live in.

[XemaSab]

8. Some minerals might produce that effect

Manganese, copper, iron, fluorine, mercury, and other elements might produce interesting colors.

One also might theorize a water-colored planed with some chemical or life form in the seas that would turn them purple. :shrug:

Or (on edit) an atmosphere that changed the apparent color of the water.