For those looking to brighten up their Wednesday evening on lockdown, literally and figuratively, there’s some good news coming over the horizon; the biggest and brightest of the spring’s full supermoons is due this week.
A supermoon is a full moon or new moon that occurs when the satellite is within 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth, appearing seven percent larger and 15 percent brighter than normal. This closest approach point is known as the perigee, which is an average distance of about 226,000 miles (363,300km) from Earth.
This week’s pink supermoon or Super Pink Moon will be the biggest and brightest of 2020’s supermoons, coming about 221,772 miles from Earth on April 7, and will be the second of six to take place this year.
It will be visible from moonrise on Tuesday, April 7 until moonset the following morning on Wednesday, April 8, and is expected to peak at 100 percent illumination at 10:35am EDT.
Over one-third of the human population on Earth is in lockdown but fear not, the ethereal natural phenomenon will be visible to the majority of people.
That said, the pink supermoon is best viewed from any second-floor (or higher) window or balcony with an east-facing aspect. Those with west-facing windows will have to wait for moonset on the morning of April 8.
Tuesday’s moon gets ‘pink’ in its name not because the moon mysteriously changes its hue but rather because the pink flower Wild Ground Phlox blooms in North America around this time. The moon itself will appear orange, then pale yellow.
It will be followed by the “Super Flower Moon” on May 7, 2020, which will be the fourth and final supermoon of the year.
On November 25, 2034, the “Super Beaver Moon” will come even closer than the Super Pink Moon before the closest moon expected this century takes place on December 6, 2052.
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