Since the quarantine began, marathon series and movies, cook a new recipe, read a classic, or play sports at home are some of the activities that make up our monotonous routine to combat the long days of quarantine.
However, there is good news. And now, we can already add to our isolation agenda a new unmissable event that we can attend without leaving home: the pink supermoon of April 7.
On that day, the Earth satellite will reach perigee, that is, the point of the closest lunar orbit to Earth.
So it will look bigger and brighter than normal, and light up the darkness of the night sky with its light.
Although the astronomical event is commonly known as the pink moon, the sphere is not going to be tinted that color.
In reality, the phenomenon receives that name because it coincides with the period of the year in which the flox flowers, of pink tones, emerge, as detailed by NASA on its website.
“In the European months, the full moon in April is called the Pink Moon, a name that comes from pink moss, also known as wildland flox, which in the eastern US is one of the first flowers to germinate in the spring,” explains the US federal space agency.
It is a tribute to the colors of spring, the season in which the event occurs. In that same sense, the Native Americans called it “Flower Moon”.
“Native American tribes in the Northeast USA called it ‘flower’ , as flowers are abundant at this time of year in most of those regions. Other names include corn planting moon, or milk moon,” explains NASA.
In addition, in other corners of the world, the April supermoon is also known as “the moon of the germinated grass”, “of the egg” or “of the fish”.
In the Hindu calendar, it is called “Hanuman Jayanti”, while Buddhists call it “Bak Poya”, commemorating the date that Buddha visited Sri Lanka and avoided a war by achieving peace between the chiefs.
Finally, for the Christian ecclesiastical calendar, this is the “Paschal Moon”, since it coincides with the Easter celebrations.
Although the dates vary each year, the Council of Nicea established that Easter Sunday, also called Easter, was celebrated just the Sunday after the first full moon of spring.
According to NASA’s astronomical calendar, the satellite will reach perigee on Tuesday, April 7 at 2:08 p.m EDT.
In addition to the pink moon, other astronomical phenomena will take place this April, according to NASA.
April 3: “In early April, look west every night in the two hours after sunset to see how Venus visits the Pleiades,” explains the federal agency, which recommends observing the sky between 1 and 5 this month, and use binoculars or a telescope to see the planet.
“It will look spectacular if the weather is clear where you are, so from here we wish you clear skies,” added NASA.
April 15: “The planetary quartet made up of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and the Moon reappears in the sky in mid-April,” he explains.
“The three planets won’t reappear together in the sky for a couple of years, so catch them now if you can!” Warns the space agency.
Source: Infobae
