THIS is how stargazers can see this spring's first full moon this weekend before the Lyrids meteor shower peaks.
April's Pink Moon will illuminate the sky from early Friday to Monday morning, according to NASA.
The moon will be at its peak fullness on Saturday around 2.55pm, but it will be highly visible that evening after sunset at 8.27pm.
Those who want to see the display should "find an open area and watch as the Moon rises just above the horizon, at which point it will appear its biggest and take on a golden hue," according to the Old Farmers' Almanac.
The Pink Moon is just one of the two celestial displays to look forward to in the coming days.
The Lyrids meteor shower and a full pink moon will both grace night skies above the US this week.
The Lyrid meteor shower is set to begin tonight, before peaking on April 22 when about 18 "shooting stars" will appear per hour.
Read our pink moon and Lyrids meteor shower live blog for the latest news and updates…
- Danielle Cinone
What are the moon phases?
There are eight moon phases:
- Full Moon
- Waxing Gibbous
- First Quarter
- Waxing Crescent
- New Moon
- Waning Crescent
- Third Quarter
- Waning Gibbous
Upcoming events in astronomy: December, continued
When the Geminid meteor shower peaks during the second full week of December, it will be one of the most anticipated annual meteor showers as well as one of the year’s closing astronomy events.
The Geminids may produce over 100 meteors per hour under perfect conditions, but the almost full moon will once again interfere with the shower.
Before the moon rises between 10pm and 11pm local time, the evening may prove to be the optimum time to observe this year’s event.
The meteor shower, on the other hand, will last all night, with shooting stars visible mostly in darker portions of the sky where the moon is not visible.
Upcoming events in astronomy: November, continued
The Northern Taurid meteor shower, which occurs in mid-November, is usually a small occurrence that passes undetected, but this year might be an exception.
In most years, the Northern Taurids generate just about five meteors per hour, a far cry from the popular Perseids or December Geminids’ hourly rates.
The meteor shower is notable for producing tremendously brilliant fireballs that brighten the whole sky for a few seconds and peak during the night of November 11 into the early hours of November 12.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: November
On November 8, the second and last complete lunar eclipse of 2022 will occur before daybreak, but not everyone in North America will be able to see the moon turn red, Accuweather reported.
The whole phase of the eclipse will be missed by East Coastwatchers since the moon will set shortly before the eclipse reaches its peak.
Weather permitting, the rest of Canada and the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii, will be able to see the display.
People in North America will not be able to see a total lunar eclipse from their homes again until March 14, 2025, following November’s eclipse.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: September, continued
This is the greatest time to see Jupiter in 2022 because it is near the point in its orbit where it is closest to the Earth, making it look brighter than at any other time of year.
The planet can be seen without a telescope, but it is a simple and attractive target for anyone learning how to use a new telescope.
With a telescope, you can view Jupiter’s four largest moons: Europa, IO, Callisto, and Ganymede, and the magnification afforded by even the smallest telescopes is adequate to see them.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: September
As the biggest planet in the solar system approaches opposition, the first evenings of astronomical fall will provide ideal conditions for seeing Jupiter in the night sky, Accuweather noted.
Opposition is an astronomy phrase that describes how a planet looks to the Earth from the perspective of the sun.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: August
On a summer night, one of the most popular yearly meteor showers peaks, but there will be some competition this year, according to Accuweather.
The Perseids can put on a spectacular show with 50 to 100 shooting stars per hour in perfect conditions, but hourly rates may be cut in half this year when the phenomenon peaks the night after a brilliant supermoon.
Despite the moonlight, some meteors should be visible, but the moonlight will wipe out many of the fainter meteors.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: June, continued
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are all visible to the naked eye and will align in sequence before sunrise around the end of June, Accuweather reported.
On June 24, just before sunrise, the uncommon alignment will appear over the eastern sky. The crescent moon will shine between Venus and Mars, aligning with the planets.
The planets will appear to be in a straight line in the sky, but they will not be precisely aligned in the solar system. This is how they will seem from the Earth’s perspective.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: June
In 2022, there will be three supermoons, the first of which will appear in the middle of June.
When there is a full moon around perigee, the point in the moon’s orbit when it is closest to the Earth, supermoons occur.
The consequence is a full moon that is somewhat larger and brighter than other full moons throughout the year, albeit the difference is subtle.
The supermoon in June will be followed by a second on July 13 and a third on August 12.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: May
As long as the weather cooperates, the moon will turn red on the night of May 15 into May 16, allowing the whole continental United States to observe the moon passes into Earth’s shadow, according to Accuweather.
This past November, there was a spectacular partial lunar eclipse in which 97 percent of the moon was darkened, but it was just a sliver shy of being termed a complete eclipse.
In May of 2021, there was also a total lunar eclipse, however, it was only visible for a few minutes for areas of the West Coast.
The eclipse in May will be the first of two that will be seen over the US this year, while the second will not be viewable throughout all of North America and may occur on a cool night.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: April, continued
Even with the use of a telescope, the year’s third major astronomical event is the only one that cannot be viewed, Accuweather reported.
Even though the moon does not become blue in color, the phrase “blue moon” has gained popularity in recent years to denote the second full moon in a calendar month.
The black moon in April is the polar opposite of the blue moon, which is the month’s second new moon.
New moons are impossible to see because the lit side of the moon is pointing away from the Earth at this time.
Despite the fact that the black moon cannot be seen in the sky, this is an excellent time of the month for stargazing since there is no natural light pollution from the moon, offering skywatchers darker vistas of the universe.
- Danielle Cinone
Upcoming events in astronomy: April
April is International Astronomy Month and those who want to enjoy the night sky may do so on April 21 and 22 when the Lyrid meteor shower peaks.
This will be the first meteor shower in over three months to peak, according to Accuweather, bringing an end to a long period of no meteor showers and generating roughly 15 shooting stars every hour.
Less than two weeks after the Lyrids, the eta Aquarids, a meteor shower that can produce between 20 and 40 meteors per hour on the night of May 4 into May 5, will occur.
For the Southern Hemisphere, this is also the finest meteor shower of the year.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
Spot these planets
In the pre-dawn hours of the same day the Pink Moon reaches its peak, four of the five visible planets will also "appear in a line above the east-southeastern horizon, stringing together in what’s sometimes called a 'planet parade,'" according to MLive.com.
NASA’s April-May 2022 Full Moon Guide reveals that a string of planets will be visible as morning twilight starts on Saturday at 5:30am ET.
The planets, in order, are Saturn to the upper right above the southeastern horizon, and then Mars, Venus, and Jupiter to the lower left above the eastern horizon.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
How big is the moon, continued
The Moon's diameter is around 3,500 km, which is more than a fifth of Earth's, and its face is about the same breadth as Australia.
The Moon's total surface area is somewhat less than that of the Americas, at 38million square kilometers.
The Moon has a mass of 1/81 that of the Earth, and is the second densest of the planetary moons, with a surface gravity of 0.1654 g and an escape velocity of 2.38 km/s.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
How big is the moon?
The Moon is the Solar System's fifth-biggest natural satellite in terms of size and mass, and one of its planetary-mass moons, making it a satellite planet according to geophysical standards.
It is smaller than Mercury and much larger than Pluto, the Solar System's biggest dwarf planet.
While the Pluto-Charon system's minor-planet moon Charon is bigger than Pluto, the Moon is the Solar System's greatest natural satellite in terms of its principal planets.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
Rain or frost?
According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, "A full moon in April brings frost. If the full moon rises pale, expect rain."
"There certainly is a chance of rain or frost this weekend. There is also a chance of neither," CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said.
"But in some areas of the Midwest, people will see some below-average morning temperatures this weekend, which may leave them wishing for a pale moon."
- Josie Rhodes Cook
Honoring the spring season
Native American names for April's full moon were in honor of the spring season, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.
The Dakota tribe called it the "moon when the streams are again navigable."
Meanwhile, the Tlingit tribe called it "budding moon of plants and shrubs," referring to the end of winter and returning plant growth.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
Pink Moon's name
Tribes kept track of the seasons with distinct names for each month's full moon.
The Pink Moon's name comes from the moss pink herb, or wild ground phlox flower, which is widespread by spring.
Other names for this particular orb include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, or the Full Fish Moon.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
Pink Moon
This year's Pink Moon will be visible on the evening of April 16, kicking off about half an hour before sunset at 8.27 p.m.
The practice of naming full moons dates back to Native American culture.
Tribes kept track of the seasons with distinct names for each month's full moon.
Because a moon month is slightly shorter than our calendar months, the dates of the full moons shift slightly from year-to-year.
But months they appear in stay the same, and every year we see a Pink Moon in April.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
When will the Pink Moon be most visible?
The Pink Moon will be at peak fullness on Saturday around 2.55pm.
However, it will still remain very visible that evening after sunset at 8.27pm.
- Josie Rhodes Cook
Pink Moon facts
KCRG-TV9 First Alert Weather shared some facts about the Pink Moon on Twitter ahead of the celestial phenomenon.
- Amanda Castro
What are the Lyrids, continued
You don't necessarily need to look in a certain area as the meteors can appear all over the sky.
The Lyrid shower is one of the oldest known, with records of visible meteors going back 2,700 years.
The best time to spot the meteors is early in the morning or in the evening before the moon rises.
- Amanda Castro
What are the Lyrids?
The Lyrids happens each April and occur when Earth's orbit takes it through a comet's tail.
The meteor shower is made from falling debris from the comet Thatcher.
It gets its name from the Lyra constellation as sometimes the meteors look like they're radiating from a place near that location.
- Amanda Castro
What is the significance of a full moon, continued
"Spiritually speaking, that opposition — between yin and yang, light and dark — makes for a potent time for surrender and a heightened sense of emotionality. As such, full moons are synonymous with closure and endings; of cycles, habits, relationships," The New York Post wrote.
Because the full moon phase is when the moon is at its most powerful, it is important to take the time to release negative energy and focus on your manifestations.
- Amanda Castro
What is the significance of a full moon?
Aside from its beauty and satisfaction, a full moon is a powerful symbol in astrology.
The New York Post reported that a full moon has a strong emotional significance.
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