The April Pink Moon is at first glance a misnomer. For this Friday’s Full Moon will not look a pretty pink, instead casting a hazy shade of pale orange down from the heavens. But this month’s Pink Moon is still worth watching out for and here are the best times to spot Earth’s satellite at its best.
The April Full Moon will look at its photogenic finest when it rises and sets.
Not only will this month’s Full Moon look larger to our minds when it is close to the horizon, but there will also be significantly less glare.
Observing Earth’s satellite when it is high in the sky could be too bright white to look at for more than a few seconds.
But a Full Moon will be less bright and slightly orange when seen closer to the horizon.
READ MORE: Mars MYSTERY: NASA probes strange impact crater on red planet
Rayleigh scattering, the phenomena of Earth’s atmosphere absorbing some wavelengths more easily than others, is responsible for this optical illusion.
Colours with longer wavelengths, such as yellow, orange and red, are not absorbed as much because they more easily pass through the atmosphere unedited.
The rising or setting Full Moon is close to the horizon, where the atmosphere is thickest close to Earth.
Consequently, the visual effect of Rayleigh scattering is intensified, and the yellow, orange and red end of the spectrum dominate the light that makes it to your eyes.
READ MORE: Leonardo da Vinci predicted apocalypse on THIS day
When will the April Pink Moon arrive around the world?
The moment of the full Pink Moon globally on Friday, April 19, 2019, is 11.12 UTC, which translates as:
4.12am PDT (Los Angeles)
4.12am MST (Phoenix)
5.12am MDT (Salt Lake City)
6.12am CDT (Chicago)
READ MORE: Was Einstein WRONG? Scientists aim to disprove theory of gravity
7.12am EDT (New York)
12.12pm BST (London)
13.12pm CEST (Paris)
This means that, weather permitting, the theoretically best time to see the Pink Moon from North America – when it is closest to being 100 percent illuminated – is on Good Friday morning.
However the Pink Moon will in practice look just as good when it is 99 percent illuminated at moonrise at dusk on Good Friday, when most stargazers will most likely be viewing the April Full Moon.
Why is the April Full Moon known as the Pink Moon?
All 12 of the year’s Full Moon have names linked to the natural seasonal shifts.
These names are taken from Native American traditions observed in the modern day US.
Tribes such as the Algonquian would keep track of time by giving the Moon’s phases different names.
The April Pink Moon was named after a pretty type of wildflower, which opens small, pink flowers this month.
The ground phlox or creeper phlox is a type of paint native to the eastern parts of the US.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac guidebook, the flowers would turn the fields pink as they sprouted.