It’s super moon season!
Tonight’s full moon will be much closer in the sky than usual, making it a supermoon. This month’s supermoon will appear slightly bigger than last month’s (by about 0.1%), making it the largest of the year. It’s also a pink moon, making it all the more super!
NASA said the moon will be full starting Tuesday night, April 7, and will continue for about three days, through Thursday morning. Though it will shine bright all night, it will appear opposite the Sun (and therefore the most vibrant) at 9:35 p.m. CT tonight.
According to NASA, the seasonal names for each full moon come from different Native American tribes. April’s full moon “comes from the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox, which is native to the eastern USA and one of the earliest widespread flowers of Spring.” Contrary to the name, the full moon tonight won’t actually look pink. Sorry, folks.
In different cultures and communities, it has also been called: the Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon, the Pesach or Passover Moon, Paschal Moon, Hanuman Jayanti, and Bak Poya. If you follow astrology, this full moon is a great time to embrace change (of which there’s a lot right now) and give yourself a compassionate break.