Supermoon shows its colors as it shines in April sky

April's Super Pink Moon was the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2020 and brought a spectacular sight to places around the world.

When atmospheric conditions are just right, the moon can sometimes appear yellow, orange or even red when it is near the horizon. In places such as the Netherlands and New Jersey, a few images capture the moon with a rosé tint as the full moon lived up to its nickname.

As every month’s full moon has a nickname often traced back to the Native Americans or early Colonials from Europe, April’s nickname is the Pink Moon. Despite this, the moon doesn’t actually blush pink all night long. The name is instead derived from its correspondence with the early springtime blossoming of the Phlox subulata, a pink wildflower native to eastern North America, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.

Other names given to April's full moon include the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and the Fish Moon.

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The Super Pink Moon was the first of three big astronomy events taking place in April, and people that missed it can relive the night from photos gathered from around the world.

In some locations, the conditions were just right to create an unusual optical phenomenon known as "moon dogs."

"Moon dogs are rare and can only happen when the moon is bright enough and when atmospheric conditions are just right," AccuWeather Meteorologist Brian Lada said. "The phenomenon occurs when moonlight reflects off ice crystals high in the atmosphere, causing a bright spot to appear on both sides of the moon. In some cases, it can also cause a halo to appear around the moon."

April's Super Pink Moon will perform an encore Wednesday night for anyone who missed it on Tuesday night.

However, Wednesday's moon will not be exactly the same as the Pink Super Moon. For one, the moon won’t be quite as full, but only the trained eye will be able to tell the difference. The moon also made its closest approach to the Earth on April 7 around 2 p.m. EDT, so it will not appear quite as large, but the difference is difficult to notice. Although it won't be a supermoon all throughout the night, it will still glow brightly in the sky all night long.

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