What is the Pink Moon and how did it get its name?
The full moon will be out on Tuesday (April 11), reaching its fullest phase late at night, just after the bars close in most cities on the U.S. East Coast.
The practice of naming full moons dates back to the Native Americans.
Tribes kept track of their seasons with distinctive names for each of the full moons.
Because a moon month is slightly shorter than our calendar months, the dates of the full moons shift slightly from year-to-year.
April’s full moon is known as the Pink Moon, but don’t expect it to look particularly pink. It is named after pink flowers called wild ground phlox, which bloom in early spring and become widespread throughout the U.S. and Canada this time of year.
Technically, the full phase — when the moon is on the exact opposite side of the Earth as the sun — happens at 2:08 a.m. EDT (0608 GMT). For skywatchers on the West Coast, the moon will reach peak fullness at 11:08 p.m. PDT on Monday (April 10). That said, the moon will appear full to casual observers everywhere from April 10 to April 12.
Leave a Reply