The plant’s flowers are a bright shade of pink, leading early observers to name this month’s full moon after the blossoms it brought along. The Phlox subulata, known commonly as the creeping phlox or moss phlox, typically blooms during early springtime in the eastern U.S. Those traditions can lead to some exciting moon origin stories, such as last month’s “ Full Worm Moon.”īut April’s moon draws its name from a simpler place - a flower. Most full moon names trace back to Native Americans, or to Colonial-era sources, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. Wait, why is it called a ‘super pink moon?’ The next supermoon, called the “ full flower moon,” will appear exactly one month later, on May 7. So, if you’re looking to catch the bright lights, find a clear spot to look eastward as the sun sets Tuesday night - particularly around 10:35 EST, when the moon will reach peak illumination.Īnd don’t freak out if you miss it. The full moon will be visible in North America on April 7, rising in the east that evening and setting in the west during the morning of April 8. And, although the moon won’t be very pink, it will be a bright, eye-catching shade of orange. The phenomenon, called the “super pink moon,” will actually be the brightest full moon of the year. And although every full moon is a fairly photo-worthy experience, this one is pretty special. That’s because another supermoon is lighting up skies around the world this week. There are some sites that are better than others, but truly get to know the sky where you are.Calling all Instagram astronomers: Get your cameras ready. So you don’t have to find that perfect location - it doesn’t exist. “The best place to observe the sky is wherever you currently are. “There’s no one best spot to observe the sky,” Nichols says. Both light pollution and air pollution can impact how stars appear in the sky, but lately, air pollution has fallen as there are fewer cars on the road and fewer factories at work. Michelle Nichols, director of public observing at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, tells WBEZ’s Katherine Nagasawa that people can easily stargaze near their home, even in a city. And as Brian Lada writes for AccuWeather, the Lyrids meteor shower peaks on April 22 and 23. This Friday, Venus will be visible near a cluster of stars called the Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, according to Alan MacRobert at Sky & Telescope. This year’s super pink moon is also a paschal moon because of its closeness to Easter, which is April 12.įor those staying at home, April will bring a number of other moon- and stargazing events to see outside at night. Other names for an April full moon include Sprouting Grass, Egg, and Fish moon, all names that evoke thoughts of early spring. “I think it's just because someone took the word 'super' and put it in front of the word 'moon.'” And a couple of years ago, it just caught on,” Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History, told NPR’s Rachel Martin in 2016. “It didn't have much science behind it, except that he coined a term for when the moon was full, when it was 90 percent of the closest distance it could be to Earth. Supermoon isn’t a scientific term for the astronomical event-that term is “perigee-syzygy.” Rather, the term supermoon was introduced by astrologer Richard Noelle in 1979. That’s only a few hundred miles further than the closest supermoon in recent history, which occurred in November 2016. On April 7th, it will be about 30,000 miles closer, only 221,772 miles from Earth. On March 24, for example, Earth’s lunar companion reached its furthest apogee of the year, about 252,707 miles away. The slight change in size happens because the moon follows an eccentric orbit around Earth that isn’t perfectly circular. Supermoons are only about seven percent bigger and 15 percent brighter than the average full moon, so the difference may not be obvious. The name comes from pink wildflowers called creeping phlox that bloom in early spring, under April’s full moon, per Catherine Boeckmann at the Old Farmer’s Almanac. It will be golden orange when low in the sky, and brighten to white as it rises. Though the moon is called a “pink” moon, its color won’t be any different than normal. (Apogee is its furthest point from Earth in its orbit.) In April, the full moon peaks at 10:35 EDT. Avid stargazers and newcomers to the nighttime hobby can look forward to a lunar event next month: A super “pink” moon will rise into the night sky on April 7th, the brightest supermoon of 2020.Ī supermoon occurs when a full moon happens on the same night the moon reaches perigee, or the closest point to Earth in its orbit.
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