The biggest, brightest moon of 2020 will be appearing in the night sky over Beaufort this week when the pink supermoon makes its appearance on Tuesday, April 7th.
The April full moon is referred to as the Pink Moon, the Grass Moon or the Egg Moon; all names that evoke thoughts of early spring.. This week’s full moon also happens to be the closest, which makes it the largest supermoon of the year, looking especially large when rising or setting.
The pink supermoon will be fullest at 10:35pm ET on Tuesday, according to NASA, bringing the last supermoon of the year to the Lowcountry sky. Look for it to shine all night long as it beams in the east after sunset on April 7, climbs to its highest point for the night around midnight, and sets in the west around sunrise on April 8.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, April’s full moon often corresponded with the early springtime blooms of a pink wildflower native to eastern North America. The wildflower is commonly called creeping phlox or moss phlox – and also goes by the name “moss pink.”
For over a thousand years, people all over the world, including Native Americans, named the months after things that coincided in nature. The Old Farmers’ Almanac said that full moon names in our part of the world date back to the Native Americans who lived in the northern and eastern US.
With folks all over being closed-in with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, much of the world will be at home for the pink supermoon.
If sky-gazing is a hobby you plan to take up while staying home, there’s even more coming this month with the peak of the Lyrids meteor shower on April 22 and 23.
