The moon appeared red on the night of August 30, 2023, primarily because it was a "Super Blue Moon" that could appear orange or red in color when low on the horizon. However, the typical red coloring of the moon is often due to a total lunar eclipse or the scattering of sunlight through Earth's atmosphere. For August 30, 2023:

• It was a Blue Moon (the second full moon in a single month) and a Supermoon (the moon being closer to Earth in its orbit, appearing larger and brighter).
• The moon was likely appearing red/orange because it was low in the sky, causing sunlight to pass through more of Earth's atmosphere, which scatters shorter blue wavelengths and allows longer red and orange wavelengths to dominate. This phenomenon is similar to why sunrises and sunsets are red.
• There was no specific total lunar eclipse on that date causing the red coloring, so the red tint was due to atmospheric effects and the moon's position near the horizon rather than an eclipse.

In brief, the moon's red color that night was due to atmospheric scattering of light as it rose close to the horizon during a rare bright Super Blue Moon.