Springtime magic: Pink Moon blooms brightly in April sky
The rise of the Pink Moon on April 23 marked the second full moon of astronomical spring for the Northern Hemisphere. March's full Worm Moon rose on March 25.
April's full moon takes on several nicknames related to the changes that take place outdoors during the spring: Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and, among coastal Native American tribes, the Fish Moon.
Native Americans didn't keep track of time using the months of the Julian or Gregorian calendar. Often, tribes kept track of time by observing the seasons and lunar months. "Others counted 5 seasons to a year. Some tribes defined a year as 12 moons, while others assigned it 13. Certain tribes that used the lunar calendar added an extra moon every few years to keep it in sync with the seasons," according to easterntrail.org. Colonial Americans carried over many of the Native American full moon names, adding them to their calendar system
The Pink Moon, the most common nickname for the April moon, is derived from the wild ground phlox, which blooms in the spring with pink flowers, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
Despite its name, this full moon will not appear pink in the sky throughout the night. However, the moon can sometimes appear a different color when it is low on the horizon depending on atmospheric conditions similar to how the sky changes color around sunrise and sunset.
