Just two weeks after the big solar eclipse captivated people across the nation, a “pink moon” will be shining in the night sky when the April moon of 2024 turns full in several days. But despite its catchy, colorful nickname, the moon won’t actually look pink.
The nickname isn’t related to the moon’s hue. Instead it refers to the pink flowers that start to bloom in early April.
If you look into the night sky on Tuesday, April 23, the second full moon of the spring season will look like any other ordinary full moon — sporting a yellow or golden-orange glow when it starts to rise and giving off a whitish tint as it appears higher in the sky.
When to see the April full moon
In the New York City region and Newark area of New Jersey, the near-full April moon (98% illuminated) will rise in the east-southeastern sky at6:40 p.m. on Monday, April 22, and the completely full moon will rise at 7:43 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, in the east-southeastern sky, according to TimeAndDate.com. It will also be 100% full Wednesday night, April 24, as it rises at 8:49 p.m.
If you want to see the big morning moon as it is setting, it will be sinking in the west-southwestern sky at about 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, 6:10 a.m. Wednesday, April 24 and 6:35 a.m. on Thursday, April 25.
Other nicknames for April’s full moon
In some cultures, people refer to the April full moon as the “egg moon,” the “fish moon” and the “sprouting grass moon,” according to NASA and the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The egg moon nickname apparently refers to the egg-laying season. The fish nickname was reportedly coined by coastal Native Americans because schools of shad would swim upstream to spawn around the time of the April full moon.
And the sprouting grass moniker refers to the green blades of grass that start getting taller in the spring. (Yes, lawn mowing season has begun.)
Dates, times, nicknames of full moons in 2024
We already had the full “wolf moon” on Jan. 25, the full “snow moon” on Feb. 24 and the full “worm moon” on March 25, followed by the rare solar eclipse on April 8. These are the other full moons that are on the way in 2024:
- April 23: Full “pink moon” at 7:48 p.m.
- May 23: Full “flower moon” at 9:53 a.m.
- June 21: Full “strawberry moon” at 9:07 p.m.
- July 21: Full “buck moon” at 6:17 a.m.
- Aug. 19: Full “sturgeon moon” at 2:25 p.m. (supermoon)
- Sept. 17: Full “harvest moon” at 10:34 p.m. (supermoon)
- Oct. 17: Full “hunter’s moon” at 7:26 a.m. (supermoon)
- Nov. 15: Full “beaver moon” at 4:28 p.m. (supermoon)
- Dec. 15: Full “cold moon” at 4:01 a.m.
The spring meteor season kicked off on April 15, with the annual Lyrid meteor shower. The bad news for sky watchers — this meteor shower is expected to reach its peak and generate its highest number of shooting stars during the late-night hours on April 22 into the pre-dawn hours on April 23.
So bright light from the full April moon will make it tougher to see the faintest meteors.
Even though it’s not as dazzling as the annual summer Perseids, the Lyrid meteor shower can sometimes have an unexpected outburst of dozens of meteors per hour, according to astronomy experts at EarthSky.org and NASA.
During a typical year, the Lyrid meteor shower usually produces one meteor every five minutes, Sky & Telescope says.
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.
