The Full Moon in April 2020 is a Pink Moon that is also the brightest Supermoon of the year. This particular moon is also known as an “Easter Moon” and “The Paschal Moon” because Passover and Easter occur in April in 2020.
What Time Is The Pink Supermoon April 2020?
The 2020 Pink Supermoon will begin with a moonrise over the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. east coast around 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, with a slight time variation depending on the viewer’s exact location.
The Pink Supermoon will technically be at its fullest 100% illumination at 10:35 p.m. EDT.
The Super Pink Moon will be 100% full that night before setting the following morning at 7:39 a.m. EDT.
When is the best time to watch the April 2020 Full Moon?
Low hanging moons near the horizon appear larger to humans.
So, the Pink Super Moon will appear biggest to the naked eye on the U.S east coast during and just after the moonrise around 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
What is a Super Moon?
According to NASA, a Super Moon occurs because the Moon is in an elliptical orbit around the Earth.
When the Moon is closest, it is at its orbital perigee, which is why a Super Moon is also known as a Perigee Moon.
A full moon at its closest point to Earth definitely will be big and bright. But it won’t look much, if any, different than a “normal” full moon and will not have any readily observable effect on our planet except perhaps slightly higher tides.
Why is a Full Moon in April called a Pink Moon?
A Full Moon in April is also called a Pink Moon because Colonial Americans learned that name from Native Americans who associated the April Full Moon with the blooming of pink flowers in early Spring named wild ground phlox, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
Other names for April’s Full Moon are also associated with Springtime: Full Sprouting Grass Moon (sprouting vegetation in Spring), Egg Moon (animal mating in Spring), and Full Fish Moon (when fish spawn in spring).
What causes a Pink Moon?
The time of year that a Full Moon happens does not affect its color. The Full Moon on April 7, 2020, will likely be pearly-gray to most locations on Earth just like any other Full Moon.
But particles in the local atmosphere caused by weather, forest fires, volcanoes, and pollution can filter out certain light colors of the moon.
This is especially true when the moon rises or sets near the horizon and the sunlight reflecting from the moon has more atmosphere to travel through before reaching the viewer on Earth. Full Moons have appeared pink, yellow, red, blue, green, and (most often) orange.
Below is a video of an April Full Moon that really was pink when it first appeared over the Atlantic Ocean horizon.
The Moon then changed from pink to orange (and later yellow) as it rose higher in the sky.
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