Why is it called a Pink moon

Full Moon on the Night of April 26: Why Are We Talking About a “Super Pink Moon”?

Melanie Rostagnata
April 26, 2021 at 6:29 pm

Full moon on April 7, 2020 from Las Vegas, USA
Full moon on April 7, 2020, from Las Vegas, USA – Ethan Miller / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

During the night of Monday to Tuesday, the Moon will be closest to Earth at a distance of about 360,000 km.
This is the first of the year.

The so-called “Pink Super Moon” occurs on the night of 26-27 April. An event that occurs when the star is at its closest point in orbit, that is, at a distance of about 363,000 km.

“The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 384,000 km. The minimum distance of 356,000 km was reached in 2016, a record since 1948 and will not be repeated until 2034”, explains Actu.fr Secretary General Gilles Davydovich. Astronomical Society of France.

The Moon then appears larger and brighter than usual, although experts suggest that it is not visible to the naked eye.

Scientific explanation of pink Moon

The moon will no longer be more pink than usual, explains Numerama, who recalls that the nickname “Pink Moon” comes from the Native American tradition of baptizing each lunar month.

To qualify for the full moon in April the pink color would have been chosen because of the spring blooms of the North American native plant Phlox subulata.

Why is the full moon of April 11 called the “Pink Moon”?

“I read that there will be a full pink moon this Tuesday, April 11th. Since I found a very strange pink moon, I went to the internet for reasons that change the color of the moon.

After several minutes of searching I didn’t get an answer.

So I wanted to know if this was true, and for a passion for astronomy, I wanted to know the reasons and whether it would be visible from the Belgian capital”, Hakim told us orange Asked about button alert-u.

There is a full moon every month on which our satellite appears as a complete disk in the sky. That day in April is 11th April. In the United States, this full moon is called the “Pink Moon”, which means Pink Moon in French.

Without knowing the origin of this expression, Hakim, undoubtedly like many others, naturally assumed that the sphere that orbits the Earth (in a month) would appear in the celestial vault with a pink hue.

This is not the case. According to Space.com, the name comes from the blooming phlox at this time of year, a beautiful pink flower common in North America but also found as an ornamental flower in European gardens.

Why do we expect a “Pink Super Moon” on April 27th?

The next full moon, scheduled for the night of April 26-27, will appear larger than usual. On this day the Moon is closest to the Earth, hence the name “Super Moon”. But does it really turn pink?

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On the night of 26-27 April, the next full moon will appear larger than normal. It will actually be located near the closest point to Earth, which is about 356,500 km.

At this point, the Earth, Moon, and Sun align, giving the appearance of seeing a “pink super moon”. This will be the first one for 2021, the last one for May 2020.

Why “Super Moon”?

This alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun is a well-known astrological phenomenon, named “supermoon” in English after the American astrologer Richard Knoll. In 1979 he named this phenomenon in a scientific journal.

NASA has called this orientation a “superluna” to this day.

From an astronomical point of view, we like to speak of “perigee syzygy”. Perigy is the point in the lunar orbit where the Moon is closest to focus. A synergy corresponds to the alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun.

A little harder to remember than “Super Moon”…

However, the Super Moon appears about 15% larger than the human eye. Its brightness increases by 30%, making our sky appear brighter than normal.