If you class yourself as a bit of a sky gazer, then you are certainly in for a treat when looking up at the stars this week.
While events such as a lunar eclipse brings everybody together thanks to the bizarreness of it going dark in the middle of the day, other such events are not as talked about.
Advert
Obviously, I am not a sky gazer, but I'd imagine that a lot them are left rather annoyed when everybody comes out to play once in a blue moon for an eclipse.
Anyway, if you are hoping to join the sky gazers this week, you've got a perfect excuse to do so with the April pink moon.
And before you ask, unfortunately the moon is not pink, which makes us feel we've just been hit by a late April Fool's joke.
Advert
So if it is not pink, why is the moon called the pink moon?
Well, it is actually due to the season we are in, so the 'pink' in the title refers to the pink blossoms that appear during the spring.
The moon is believed to be named after a species of pink wildflowers found by old Native American tribes, which was commonly known as creeping phlox or moss phlox.
But not only is April's moon known as a pink moon, it can also be referred to as the egg moon due to egg-laying season.
Advert
The pink moon is not the only one to actually have a pretty unique name either, as the likes of the strawberry moon appear in June, yes strawberry - plus a cold moon in December, which certainly makes sense.
Anyway, back to the current day, the pink moon will reach peak illumination at 5.34am on Thursday, 6 April, according to the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
However, if you are not an early bird, fear not as the pink moon will appear full for three days from Tuesday evening to Friday morning this week, according to Nasa.
Advert
Providing that the weather is good in the UK, we should all get a good view of the moon on Thursday morning, though the UK weather is rather unpredictable as we all know.
Once the pink moon is out of the way, we have the flower moon to look forward to next month.
Featured Image Credit: MomoFotograFi / Alamy Stock Photo Chayanan Phumsukwisit / Alamy Stock Photo