Saturday 20th April 2019 - Pink Moon!

The Pink Moon - the 'equivalent' of the Blood Moon, just not in an eclipse! Despite being called the Pink Moon, it isn't actually pink! The name comes from the bloom of ground phlox, a pink flower common to North America.

But why does it look different? Well, it is caused by particles (photons) in Earth's atmosphere. Because they scatter blue light better than red light, bluer photons get scattered (so the sky usually looks blue) but redder ones pass through the atmosphere.

So why do they always occur near the horizon? Well, because the light is travelling further through the atmosphere than when the Moon is high in the sky.

(1st / 2nd photos)
Time 21:09 / 22:46.
Distance 230,328 / 230,328 miles.
Waning gibbous / waning gibbous phase.
105 / 125 degrees E / SE compass point (azimuth).
Altitude -4.2 / 8.1 degrees.

Moon Thursday 18th April 2019

First Moon in nearly a month!

Time 23:00.
Distance 227,297 miles.
Waxing gibbous phase.
150 degrees SE compass point (azimuth).
Altitude 28.7 degrees.