Lovers of the night sky , witches , and lycanthrope , the April full Moon is upon us . This full Moon is known as the Pink Moon , but it is not because of a modification in hue . It is a reference to a pinkish wildflower known to bloom around this time .
The name is said to come from aboriginal American tradition and has become popular in American folklore through the Farmers ' farmer’s calendar , withother namesincluding the sprouting grass moonshine , orchis synodic month , and angle Sun Myung Moon .
The elevation of the full Moon already pass earlier today at 7:12am EDT ( 11:12 GMT ) , but you would n’t have seen it unless you were on the correct side of the major planet . But despite being past peak , it will still look spectacular . The lunation will ascend around 8pmlocal time(whether you are in the UK , on the East Coast , or the West Coast ) and set tomorrow dayspring around 7 am . The Sun will be up for about an hr before the Moon readiness , so if you ’re an early riser , you’re able to look forward to that as well .
The Pink Moon is historically authoritative for its connection to the Christian Easter vacation and the Judaic Passover . Unlike other holidays in the Christian custom that fall on a fix date of the Gregorian calendar , Easter succeed a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar .
Easter takes place the first Sunday after the first full Moon in spring , so after the equinox on March 21 . However , calculations can vary over the years , such as this year when the last full Moon was actually on the equinoctial point , mean that the “ astronomical Easter ” should have read place on March 24 instead of this weekend .
The full Moon takes position when our natural satellite is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun and we can see the nearside of the Moon completely illuminated . In the other phases of the lunar cycle , the Moon is in a position where sunlight only reach certain area of the nearside face . The reason we see only one side of the Moon has to do with tidal locking . The Moon rotates on itself in the same metre it choose to orbit around the Earth , so we only see one face .
