A "Zodiacal Glow" Will Appear in the Night Sky Until April 13
Your nights will likely look a whole lot brighter for the next couple of weeks, and that's thanks to the "Zodiacal Glow," also known as the pyramid of light, that will illuminate the sky until April 13. According to Good News Network, this natural phenomenon can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere after twilight. NASA describes the cause of the pyramid of light as "sunlight reflected toward Earth by a cloud of tiny dust particles orbiting the Sun." The zodiacal light actually comes from Mars (dubbed as the dustiest planet in outer space), but researchers are still uncovering how it "could have escaped the grip of Martian gravity."
"The zodiacal light appears as a huge, softly radiant pyramid of white light with its base near the horizon and its axis centred on the zodiac (or better, the ecliptic)," Dr. Roy Bishop, an emeritus professor of Physics at Acadia University, explained for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. "In its brightest parts, it exceeds the luminance of the central Milky Way."
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You'll also want to keep an eye out for the first pink supermoon of 2021, which is set to appear on Monday, April 26. This unique appearance pops up every April, and it lifts above the horizon with a brighter and bigger glow than the moon we see every day. In fact, supermoons are actually about seven percent bigger and 15 percent brighter than the average moon.
The Farmers' Almanac explains that while it has the adopted nickname of a "pink supermoon," it might not actually have that hue when you spot it out in the night sky. It is usually a golden color and it eventually has a bright white color once it is at its peak. This supermoon got its name since it has historically coincided with the flowers blooming in the spring, like the wildflower Phlox subulate (also known as moss pink). To catch the pink supermoon at its highest point, look outside at 11:33 p.m. eastern time. If you don't get the chance to step out to view the sight on April 26, you can see it again on Wednesday, May 26.
