When there is a full moon during a total lunar eclipse, its face adopts a brick-red hue. While most people agree that this fiery glow is pretty dramatic, most do not know why the effect occurs. A total lunar eclipse happens only when the moon, Earth, and sun are perfectly lined up. Even though the moon is covered by Earth’s shadow, it does not become dark.

During a Total Lunar Eclipse, the Moon Gets Lit By Light from Earth’s Halo

If a person stands on the moon during a total lunar eclipse, he or she would see a fiery rim encircling the dark planet. This rim of red light is what lights the moon in a red hue during the spectacular event. The light of the sun bends around the edges of Earth and gets reflected onto the moon. Because the light travels through our atmosphere, it filters the shorter-wavelength blue light, leaving just orange and red light to bathe the moon’s surface.

The Moon Changes Many Shades During the Stages of a Total Lunar Eclipse

The moon usually changes several hues during a total lunar eclipse, going from grayish to orange and amber. Atmospheric conditions could affect the brightness of the colors as well, and large wildfires and recent volcanic eruptions may cause it to appear in an even darker shade of red. During partial lunar eclipses, when the sun, Earth, and moon are not in perfect alignment, the planet’s shadow engulfs only parts of the moon and the red-hue effect is lost.

This year’s total lunar eclipse was visible in Australia, western South America, parts of the western United States, and Southeast Asia. In other parts of the world, just some stages of the lunar eclipse were visible, including the partial and penumbral phases. The next total lunar eclipse will be visible for people in some parts of Asia and Australia, as well as North America, South America, and the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. It will also be visible from Antarctica, even though few people might want to observe it there.

Recently, Amazon acquired Selz, a Sydney-based e-commerce platform that aims to help small businesses create websites in a manner very similar to the one Shopify Inc. uses.

Selz Founder Martin Rushe Made the Announcement Regarding the Acquisition

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Selz, Martin Rushe, shared the news about the acquisition in a blog post. He said that they (Selz and Amazon) have signed an agreement and are looking forward to working together to continue making easy-to-use tools for aspiring entrepreneurs. He added that the acquisition would not change anything for Selz customers and promised to keep in touch with them regarding any further updates.

An Amazon Spokeswoman Also Confirmed the Acquisition

While Amazon has confirmed the acquisition of Selz, no terms were disclosed. This latest move by Amazon signals the company’s interest in allowing small and medium businesses to use their own websites instead of attempting to direct their traffic to its marketplace. While Shopify is popular among online sellers because it gives them more control over the customer experience, the Selz acquisition aims to give Amazon a competitive edge by letting businesses use even more tools to quickly move their operations online.

Selz was founded in 2013 in Sydney, Australia, and gives small and medium businesses a platform to launch online stores with online payment options to other websites. The platform has many tools and currently employs around 50 people. It will be Amazon’s third-party marketplace in a segment with over 2.5 million sellers. This accounts for around half of Amazon’s e-commerce sales and brings in record revenue for the company.

From 2010 to 2015, Amazon operated another service that was similar to Shopify and was called Amazon Webstore. It also allowed small businesses to run online stores and was built on Amazon’s technology. However, Amazon Webstore was shut down in 2016 after failing to create an appealing product for e-retailers. During its five-year lifetime, it gathered no more than several hundred active users, with competitors having tens of thousands. In addition, some users reported negative experiences with the platform.