April 26

The full Pink Moon rose just as twilight settled in, and the disk was visible through the still bare trees of the lower woods to the east. These same trees accentuated the commonly held illusion that the moon appears so large on the horizon. It appeared so this night, and indeed the rising disk took on a decidedly pinkish hue as it lifted upward through the distant atmosphere.

The pink name may be on account of the atmospheric conditions that spring affords. Perhaps April has just the right amount of humidity and particles, such as pollen and dust, that the refraction of the sun’s rays favor the reds hitting the moon while it is still low in the horizon.

Or perhaps the name is recognition of the pink that frequent the floral hues this time of year, as we enjoy our azaleas and hepatica, and even tulips are possible in the lower valleys of the state.