Explanation: On April 25 a nearly full moon rose just before sunset. Welcomed in a clear blue sky and framed by cherry blossoms, its familiar face was captured in this snapshot from Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. Known to some as a Pink Moon, April's full lunar phase occurred with the moon near perigee. That's the closest point in its not-quite-circular orbit around planet Earth, making this Pink Moon one of the closest and brightest full moons of the year. If you missed it, don't worry. Your next chance to see a full perigee moon will be on May 26. Known to some as a Flower Moon, May's full moon will actually be closer to you than April's by about 98 miles (158 kilometers), or about 0.04% the distance from the Earth to the Moon at perigee.
Well, thank you, Moon. If you hadn't been there to provide stabilizing influence for the Earth, then maybe, who knows, there wouldn't have been any cherry blossoms on the Earth.
I believe that there is more to consider than just the moon's elliptical orbit when considering it's apparent brightness. Like the sun, the moon changes its position in the sky with the seasons. Unlike the sun, the (full) moon is highest in the sky during winter, and lowest in the sky during summer. Thus a full moon appears brighter in the winter.
In the 1930s the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing American Indian Moon names for the months of the year. According to this almanac, as the full Moon in April, this is the Pink Moon, named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox. The plant is native to the eastern United States and is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring.
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
Channeling my inner neufer, here's a relaxing and appropriate song:
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
I saw it written and I saw it say
Pink moon is on its way
And none of you stand so tall
Pink moon gonna get you all
It's a pink moon
It's a pink, pink, pink, pink, pink moon.
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
In the 1930s the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing American Indian Moon names for the months of the year. According to this almanac, as the full Moon in April, this is the Pink Moon, named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox. The plant is native to the eastern United States and is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring.
OK; but, this one with the cherry blossoms actually loos like it may be pink!
In the 1930s the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing American Indian Moon names for the months of the year. According to this almanac, as the full Moon in April, this is the Pink Moon, named after the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox. The plant is native to the eastern United States and is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring.
OK; but, this one with the cherry blossoms actually loos like it may be pink!
Probably just an optical illusion caused by the surrounding pink flowers?
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
orin stepanek wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 12:15 pm
OK; but, this one with the cherry blossoms actually loos like it may be pink!
Probably just an optical illusion caused by the surrounding pink flowers?
file.jpg
I took the flowers out, and I still think it look kinda pink!
Maybe though; that it could be only my impression!
Maybe a little. There are certainly many images of pinkish and reddish full moons in a blue sky out there. I think the bulk of them are taken when the moon is low in the sky. Not exactly sure how high the moon is in this APOD, but the text does say "the moon rose just before sunset", which might imply it was still low at the time of the pic.
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 2:16 pm
Maybe a little. There are certainly many images of pinkish and reddish full moons in a blue sky out there. I think the bulk of them are taken when the moon is low in the sky. Not exactly sure how high the moon is in this APOD, but the text does say "the moon rose just before sunset", which might imply it was still low at the time of the pic.
Under twilight conditions (such that we can see the landscape illuminated and the sky as blue), a full Moon will always be near the horizon.
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory https://www.cloudbait.com
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 2:16 pm
Maybe a little. There are certainly many images of pinkish and reddish full moons in a blue sky out there. I think the bulk of them are taken when the moon is low in the sky. Not exactly sure how high the moon is in this APOD, but the text does say "the moon rose just before sunset", which might imply it was still low at the time of the pic.
Under twilight conditions (such that we can see the landscape illuminated and the sky as blue), a full Moon will always be near the horizon.
I have trouble visualizing this stuff. So if the moon was full, but high in the sky, that would mean that the sun would have to be well below the horizon, and thus the sky would be dark?
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat May 01, 2021 2:16 pm
Maybe a little. There are certainly many images of pinkish and reddish full moons in a blue sky out there. I think the bulk of them are taken when the moon is low in the sky. Not exactly sure how high the moon is in this APOD, but the text does say "the moon rose just before sunset", which might imply it was still low at the time of the pic.
Under twilight conditions (such that we can see the landscape illuminated and the sky as blue), a full Moon will always be near the horizon.
I have trouble visualizing this stuff. So if the moon was full, but high in the sky, that would mean that the sun would have to be well below the horizon, and thus the sky would be dark?
Yup. A full Moon means that the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. The Moon crosses the meridian at about local midnight. (At high latitudes, of course, the Moon might always be pretty low in the sky.)
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory https://www.cloudbait.com
Under twilight conditions (such that we can see the landscape illuminated and the sky as blue), a full Moon will always be near the horizon.
I have trouble visualizing this stuff. So if the moon was full, but high in the sky, that would mean that the sun would have to be well below the horizon, and thus the sky would be dark?
Yup. A full Moon means that the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. The Moon crosses the meridian at about local midnight. (At high latitudes, of course, the Moon might always be pretty low in the sky.)
Ok, that makes sense.
-- "To B̬̻̋̚o̞̮̚̚l̘̲̀᷾d̫͓᷅ͩḷ̯᷁ͮȳ͙᷊͠ Go......Beyond The F͇̤i̙̖e̤̟l̡͓d͈̹s̙͚ We Know."{ʲₒʰₙNYᵈₑᵉₚ}
Pink and the Perigee Moon
Nice photo!
