The setting full Pink Moon at dawn at the Huntington Beach Pier in Huntington Beach Wednesday, April … [+]
Did you see the full “Pink Moon” last night? Named after the blooming of wild ground phlox in North America, our satellite rose into twilight skies just after sunset on Thursday, April 6, 2023.
A full Moon is the phase of our natural satellite in space when it is fully illuminated by the Sun from our point of view on Earth.
It was, of course, not pink at all, but orange as it appeared on the eastern horizon and set, 12 hours later, in the west close to sunrise. A rising and setting Moon looks orange because it’s viewed through a lot of atmosphere—for the same reason a setting Sun looks reddish.
The Pink Moon rises over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge as seen from Sausalito in San Francisco, … [+]
Its muted orangey hues are due to a phenomenon called “Raleigh scattering.” Long wavelength red light travels more easily through Earth’s atmosphere than short-wavelength blue light, which strikes more particles and gets scattered.
The closest full moonrise to the spring equinox and the first full Moon of spring, the timing of the “Pink Moon” is important to Christians because it determines the exact dates of Easter. As such, this “Pink Moon” is also referred to as the “Paschal Moon” (which means related to Easter).
The Pink Moon shines over the Al-Ikhlas Mosque in Ungaran, Central Java Province, Indonesia, in the … [+]
Easter is celebrated by Christians in the west on the first Sunday after the first full Moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox as determined by the Gregorian calendar—so Easter Sunday is Sunday, April 9, 2023.
The “Pink Moon” also puts our satellite into the perfect position to perfectly align with the Sun on April 20, 2023 to cause that most magnificent spectacle of all—a total solar eclipse.
Full moon rises behind Saint Jean-Baptiste (San Giovanni Battista) statue over Baptistery in Pisa, … [+]
The Moon is now lined-up to intersect the ecliptic—the apparent path of the Sun through our daytime sky and the plane of Earth’s orbit of the Sun. That kick-starts an “eclipse season” lasting about 35 days. They occur every 173.3 days.
During this eclipse season the Moon will cause two eclipses—a total solar eclipse on April 20, 2023 and a penumbral lunar eclipse on May 5, 2023.
Full moon rises above Pisa Tower (Torre di Pisa) and Baptistery in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, on April 5, … [+]
First will come the total solar eclipse. The rising of the “Pink Moon” signals the start of a long journey for eclipse-chasers, about 50,000 of which are expected to travel to the small town of Exmouth on the coast of Western Australia to experience about 62 seconds of totality.
Meanwhile, thousands more will watch from southeast Timor Leste, and West Papua in Indonesia.
The Pink Moon sets over San Francisco City as seen from Oakland hills in California, United States … [+]
The second and final event of this eclipse season will be barely noticeable, with the lunar surface simply losing brightness for a few hours. Penumbral means the Moon moves through Earth’s outer fuzzy shadow. A “Blood Moon” results only when the Moon moves through Earth’s darker inner shadow—its umbra. The next “Blood Moon” eclipse doesn’t occur until 2025.
However, as well as being a penumbral lunar eclipse, May 5 is the de facto next full Moon—the “Flower Moon”—which will be a delight to behold as it rises in the east.
Disclaimer: I am the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com and author of The Complete Guide To The Great North American Eclipse of April 8, 2024.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
