As long as the skies are clear this week, New Jersey sky watchers will get a glimpse of the so-called pink moon Thursday night into Friday morning. But even if you are able to see it, the moon won’t have a pinkish tint.
That’s just one of the nicknames for the April full moon, symbolizing the start of spring and pink-colored flowers that are blooming and spreading this time of year, such as the wild ground phlox, or moss pink, according to FullMoonPhases.com.
The April full moon will be rising this week. Will it look as spectacular as this orange harvest moon over a Hillsborough farm? This moon has some other nicknames as well.
In other cultures, people refer to the April full moon as the egg moon, the fish moon and the sprouting grass moon, the website says. The fish nickname was reportedly coined by coastal American Indian tribes that noticed shad would swim upstream to spawn around the time of the April full moon.
Regardless of what anyone calls it, one thing is certain: “The moon will not look any different than any other full moon,” said Kevin Conod, manager of the Dreyfuss Planetarium at the Newark Museum.
The full moon will be glowing in the sky over the New Jersey and the rest of the East Coast region on Friday, April 22, at 1:25 a.m.
Unfortunately for astronomy buffs, the annual Lyrid meteor shower happens to peak on the morning of April 22, according to EarthSky.org. So the meteor shower will be dimmed by the light of the full moon.
Sky watchers will have an opportunity to see what else is out in space Friday night, from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., when Rowan University hosts a night sky event in conjunction with the Philadelphia Science Festival. Keith Johnson, director of the Edelman Planetarium at Rowan, said he is keeping his fingers crossed that the weather cooperates.
