Tonight’s Full Moon is Pink Moon, Sprouted Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Pisces Moon, Paschal Moon (for Eastern Christianity), Hanuman Jayanti, Bak Poya, and a super moon.

The next full moon will be Monday evening, April 26, 2021, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth longitude at 8:32 p.m. PDT. This will be the day after the Atlantic DST time zone eastward across Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia to the international date line. Most trade calendars are based on Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and will display this full moon occurring on Tuesday, April 27, 2021. The Moon will appear full for approximately three days at this time, at from Sunday evening. until Wednesday morning.

In the 1930s, the Maine Farmer’s Almanac began publishing the names of the Native American moon for the months of the year. According to this almanac, like the full moon in April, it is the pink moon, named after the pink moss grass, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox. The plant is native to the eastern United States and is one of the first widespread spring flowers.

Other names for this moon include the sprouted grass moon, the egg moon, and among the coastal tribes of North America, the fish moon, as that was when shad swam. upstream to spawn.

For Eastern Christianity (which bases its calculations on the Julian calendar), it is the full moon before Easter, called the paschal moon. This is one of the years when the different calendars used by Western and Eastern Christianity make the difference. Eastern Christianity will celebrate Easter on Sunday, May 2, 2021. Western Christianity celebrated Easter on Sunday, April 4.

For Hindus, this is Hanuman Jayanti, the celebration of the birth of Lord Hanuman, celebrated in most areas on the full moon day of the Hindu lunar month of Chaitra, which (in the time zone of India ) is Tuesday, April 27, 2021.

For Buddhists, especially in Sri Lanka, this full moon corresponds to Bak Poya, commemorating the time when the Buddha visited Sri Lanka and settled a dispute between chiefs, avoiding a war.

This full moon is a super moon

This full moon is the first of two supermoons for 2021. The term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and refers to a new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is less than 90% of the way. perigee, its closest approach to Earth. Since we cannot see a new moon (except when it passes in front of the Sun), what has captured the attention of the public over the past few decades, it is the full super moons, as it is the full moons. biggest and brightest of the year.

These two full moons are virtually related, with the full moon on May 26, 2021, slightly closer to Earth than the full moon on April 26, 2021, but only about 98 miles (157 kilometers), or about 0.04%. of the distance from the Earth to the Moon at perigee.

Full moons, new moons and calendars

In many traditional lunisolar calendars, the months change with the new moon, and full moons fall in the middle of the lunar months. This full moon is in the middle of the third month of the Chinese calendar and Iyar in the Hebrew calendar. In the Islamic calendar, months begin with the first observation of the crescent moon shortly after the new moon.

This full moon is near the middle of the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is honored as the month in which the Quran was revealed. Observing this annual month of charity, prayer and fasting from dawn to sunset is one of the five pillars of Islam.

As usual, the wearing of properly celebrated celestial garments is encouraged in honor of the full moon.

Summary of upcoming celestial events

Here is a summary of celestial events between now and the full moon after the next (with times based on the location of NASA headquarters in Washington):

As spring continues in the northern hemisphere, daily periods of sunshine continue to lengthen. On Monday April 26, 2021 (pink full moon day), morning twilight will begin at 5:14 a.m. EDT, sunrise at 6:16 a.m., solar noon at 1:05:48 p.m. when the sun reaches its peak. maximum altitude of 64.87 degrees, sunset will be at 7:56 p.m. and evening twilight will end at 8:59 p.m. Wednesday, May 26, 2021 (full moon day after the next), morning twilight will end begins at 4:38 a.m., sunrise will be at 5:47 a.m., solar noon at 1:05:10 p.m. when the sun reaches its maximum elevation of 72.37 degrees, sunset will be at 8:23 p.m. and the evening twilight will end at 9:33 p.m.

On Monday evening, as evening twilight ends at 8:59 p.m. EDT, the planet Mars will appear approximately 38 degrees above the western horizon. The planets Venus and Mercury will already be set, but you may be able to catch them in the twilight glow about 30 minutes after sunset until they set in the west-northwest.

The closest bright star appearing directly above will be Regulus – the heart of the lion in the constellation Leo – appearing 63 degrees above the southern horizon. Regulus is about 79 light years from us and is one of four stars that we see as one (two binary star systems orbiting each other).

The brightest star in our night sky, Sirius – the Dog Star – will appear 16 degrees above the southwest horizon. Sirius is a binary star system located approximately 8.6 light years from Earth. The bright stars of the local arm of our home galaxy, including the constellation Orion, will appear stretched out along the horizon from southwest to west.

As the lunar cycle progresses, the planet Mars and the star background will appear to move west, although it is actually Earth that moves around the Sun east. Mars will appear to be moving slower than the stars since Mars is moving in the same direction as us.

Starting April 29, the planet Mercury will appear above the west-northwest horizon at the end of evening twilight.

On May 12, you may be able to see the very thin, crescent moon crescent on the horizon to the west-northwest, appearing to the left of Venus about 30 minutes after sunset until that the pair go to bed about 5 minutes before the end of evening twilight. . However, the crescent moon may be too thin to be seen, especially without binoculars and a telescope.

By May 13, the thin crescent moon will have moved higher in the sky to appear to the left of Mercury in the west-northwest, with Mercury setting about 47 minutes after the end of evening twilight.

May 15 will be the evening when the planet Mercury reaches its highest level above the horizon as evening twilight ends for this apparition, approximately 7 degrees above the west-northwest horizon. . Also on May 15, the crescent moon will appear in the west-northwest on the lower right of Mars, with the pair setting around midnight.

From May 16 to 17, the growing crescent moon will have moved to appear in the lower left of the bright star Pollux, with the pair settling about 3.5 hours after the end of evening twilight (lying around 12 49 p.m. EDT).

From May 19, the brilliant planet Venus will join Mercury above the horizon in the west-northwest at the end of evening twilight. From May 19 to 20, the waxing half-full moon will appear above the bright star Regulus, with Regulus first setting in early May 20 around 2:07 am.

From May 23 to 24, the waxing Gibbous Moon will appear about 7 degrees to the left of the bright star Spica, with Spica setting first on May 24 at around 3:52 a.m.

On the evening of Wednesday, May 26, 2021, the full moon day after the next, as evening twilight ends (at 9:33 p.m. EDT), the brightest planet visible will be Venus, appearing just 1 degree above sea level. above the horizon in the west-northwest. At the top left of Venus will be the planet Mercury, appearing 3 degrees above the horizon. The planet Mars, slightly brighter than Mercury, will appear 23 degrees above the west-northwest horizon. The constellation Ursa Major, also known as Big Dipper, will appear in the north near the head. No bright stars will appear near the top, the closest being Arcturus 62 degrees above the southeast horizon.

The moonlight interference will be even worse for the less predictable Pi-Puppid meteor shower, which is expected to peak the next morning, Friday April 23, 2021. These meteors are caused by debris from Comet Grigg – Skjellerup.

The annual Eta-Aquariid meteor shower is expected to be active from April 19 to May 28, peaking on the morning of May 6, 2021. From the southern hemisphere and under ideal conditions, this meteor shower tends to peak at rates of 40 to 85 visible. meteors per hour. However, the Washington area is at the northern limit of the latitudes from which we can see these meteors. This and the relatively short time between the rising of the radiant (the area in the sky from which these meteors appear to be radiating) and the onset of morning twilight will make these meteors difficult to see. These meteors are caused by debris from Halley’s Comet entering our atmosphere at 148,000 miles per hour (66 kilometers per second).