Grab the binoculars (who even owns these) and get outside. It’s Supermoon time.
The full moon on April 8th will be the biggest and brightest of 2020.
This ‘supermoon’ won’t actually look pink – it’s named after the spring blossom of pink phlox flowers that usually accompanies April’s full moon in the US.
What even is a supermoon?
We’re glad you asked.
A supermoon is defined as a full moon that occurs when the Moon is at its closest point to the Earth as it follows its elliptical orbit around us. Supermoons can appear up to 14% larger and 30% brighter than a typical full moon.
As a culture we really love to name our supermoons outrageous names depending on when they occur.
- January: Wolf Moon
- February: Snow Moon
- March: Worm Moon
- April: Pink Moon
- May: Flower Moon
- June: Strawberry Moon
- July: Buck Moon
- August: Sturgeon Moon
- September: Corn Moon
- October: Hunter’s Moon
- November: Beaver Moon
- December: Cold Moon
These names have dozens of different meanings depending on who you ask; some astronomers will tell you they are all absolute nonsense that the media creates to sensationalize normal lunar occurrences.
Others will swear that the supermoon in November secretly attracts intergalactic space-traveling beavers.
We’ll leave it up to you to do that research on your own.
If you think that this will have any effect on people’s behaviors, you’re going to want to read this.