Infinite Space Insights: A Literal Blood Moon Outside of an Eclipse

Infinite Space Insights: A Literal Blood Moon Outside of an Eclipse

It was only yesterday that I captured this stunning close-up picture of a full moon - specifically, a Harvest Moon (which refers to the September full moon) rising above the eastern horizon - but this time, the circumstances were different. The sheer amount of atmospheric haze, combined with the moon's proximity to the horizon early at night ensured that the shorter, more energetic wavelengths of reflected sunlight (blue and violet) were scattered before they reached ground level, allowing the longer, less energetic wavelengths (red, orange, and yellow) to reach my eyes and mobile phone camera first. As such, the moon took on an unusually (and unnaturally) fiery red hue, as if it were on fire, even though the absence of an atmosphere on the moon prevents any combustion from taking place at all up there. This made for a striking, yet ominous sight in the early evening sky where the moon resembled a battle-scarred hellscape littered with endless bloodshed.

Above: A close-up image of the Harvest Moon (the September full moon) discolored red by atmospheric haze (instead of a lunar eclipse) as it rose in the eastern sky on the evening of September 27th, 2026.

What made this picutre all the more unusual is that it was not taken during a lunar eclipse; had there been one, the atmospheric dust would've made the moon look even darker still (to the point of being nearly invisible) in its eclipse phase. In any case, this is a rare chance to see a "blood moon" outside of an actual eclipse, from which the term originated. So you might be thinking: What does this have to do with Digital Eel's Infinite Space trilogy of sci-fi roguelikes?

A peek into the lore of the Infinite Space universe reveals the surprising link. The Garthan faction (a race of physically strong and durable carnivorous cold-blooded reptilians with a warlike demeanor and strong hostility towards the player) in Sea of Stars uses the name Blood Moon (a term for a lunar eclipse that makes the moon appear red, as described above) as a possible ship name for the Light Carrier class (which only carries a pair of Impaler Missile Racks by default, and usually relies on its fighter bay of 3 Garthan fighters to provide support for other Garthan vessels).

Above: In this custom combat scenario, my lone vessel (a Terran Frigate) is targeting a Garthan Light Carrier bearing the name Blood Moon (in reference to the phenomenon of the moon turning red during a lunar eclipse). The actual blood moon on Sunday evening didn't actually count, since it was solely due to atmospheric dust, but it still looked red regardless.

And how does this specific ship name tie into the Garthans' lore? According to their backstory, their home world, Gartha, is a hot, humid planet with a tropical climate and no less than five moons (Gnaz, Krala, Fnotgar, Zlotrog, and Ssath), all of which are represented in the background of the map during any battle that takes place there, as well as in the strategic view outside of combat. This makes it the record holder for having the most named moons out of any single planet in the entire franchise. As such, a lunar eclipse (and hence a blood moon, for which a Garthan light carrier may be named at random) on Gartha would be much more likely than it is on Earth, so it wouldn't bring as much awe to the Garthans as it would to us humans.

Judging by what I saw last night, non-eclipse blood moons can also occur in the Infinite Space universe, but the games don't depict or even refer to them explicitly. Nevertheless, the fact that I saw something that made me think of a random name for a Garthan capital ship shows that Digital Eel has more than enough knowledge of astrophysics and astronomy to make their fictional universe plausible.