Stargazing enthusiasts have been marvelling at the emergence of a pink supermoon in the night skies over the UK and the world.
Despite its name, there will not be any noticeable colour difference to the full moon, which is due to reach its peak during the early hours of Wednesday at 03.55 BST.
The pink supermoon name is a northern Native American reference to an early-blooming wildflower, which starts to pop up in the US and Canada at the beginning of spring.
In some other cultures, the Pink Moon is known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Fish Moon.
As this will also be a supermoon, people can expect it to look up to 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter in the sky as it reaches its closest point to Earth, known as its perigee.
April’s supermoon is the third of the year, following the worm moon on 9 March.
The next full Moon is referred to as the Flower Moon, which takes place on 7 May 2020.
Pictures of the April 2020 Super Pink Moon
Learn more about the 2020 pink moon from History Extra and BBC Sky at Night Magazine:
- Observe the perigee ‘Supermoon’ 7-8 April 2020 [via BBC Sky at Night Magazine]
- Written in the stars: 7 celestial events that may have changed history [via History Extra]
Reader Q&A: Why is the Moon sometimes visible during the day?Asked by: Fatima, Manchester
In fact, the Moon is visible in daylight almost every day. The Earth’s daily revolution on its axis means that the Moon is actually above the horizon for about 12 hours out of every 24. Usually, some portion of that time will be during daylight – you just need to look carefully, because its brightness is so much less than the Sun’s.
The only times you won’t be able to see it during the day are near a new Moon, when it is positioned too close to the Sun in the sky to be seen, and near a full Moon, when it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise, so is only visible during the hours of darkness.
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