On the night of the 12th/13th April the Moon will be full this is the Egg Moon.
Many press agencies are now using the American names for the full moons. It is often referred to as the Pink Moon because of the pink phlox flowers that can be seen in America at this time of year. These American names are only a couple of hundred years old. I prefer to use the old monastic names of the full moons which go back over 1,200 years.
The full moon in April is the Egg Moon, this has nothing at all to do with Easter Eggs. It is due to the fact that at this time of year the nights are getting shorter the length of daylight increases so the ducks, geese and hens that the monks own start to lay more eggs. Hence the Egg Moon.
April also sees the closest Micromoon of the year. Many people will have heard of the Supermoon when the moon looks larger tin the sky than normal, this is because the moon is a little closer to us than normal. There are however times of the year when the moon is a little further away and this makes the moon look smaller.
So if you see the Full Egg Moon this weekend you are also looking at the furthest full moon of the year.
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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