Staying at home? Don’t forget to watch the pink moon tonight

Oman Tuesday 07/April/2020 19:59 PM
By: Times News Service
Staying at home? Don’t forget to watch the pink moon tonight

Muscat: Tonight’s pink moon, which will be visible across Oman and the rest of the world, will prove to be a welcome distraction during the safety measures we’ve all had to take at present, to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Although the moon is not actually going to turn pink, it will be a lot brighter than the other full moons Earth will experience this year.

“The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published "Indian" names for the full Moons in the 1930's,” said Gordon Johnston, programme executive for NASA’s Solar System Exploration division. “According to this almanac, as the full Moon in April and the first full Moon of spring, this is the Pink Moon, a name that comes from the herb moss pink, also known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or mountain phlox, which is native to the eastern USA and one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring.”

This full moon is also going to be supermoon, which is called so because its path takes it up to 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth in its given orbit.

“In practice, what catches the public's attention are the full Moons that appear biggest and brightest each year,” added Johnston. “For 2020, the four full moons from February to May meet this 90 percent threshold, with the full moons in March and April nearly tied in size and brightness.”