It's a Marvelous night for a Moon Dance.
Sun rises at 6:00am
Sun sets at 6:27pm
Moon phase: 3rd quarter moon
Moonrises at 4:45pm
Moonsets at 4:55am
This weekend we enjoy the third quarter moon – it’s almost full and very bright all night long. The moon turns exactly full on Tuesday, April11. This will be the first full moon of springtime – often called the Pink Moon, to celebrate the return of certain wild flowers. Other Northern Hemisphere names for this full moon are Egg Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, or Easter Moon. In most years, the Christian celebration of Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring. So Tuesday’s Easter Moon heralds the coming of Easter Sunday on April 16, 2017.
Did you know the features that you can see on the moon are named, There are craters such as Tycho with long rays of ejecta, and dark areas of black lava flows known as Mares. That’s Latin for Sea, because the early astronomers thought these dark areas were in fact bodies of water.
Throughout the next few nights the Moon is close to Jupiter so get out those telescopes and view them! Jupiter is at opposition to the sun, which means is at its brightest for the year, but of course the moon’s glare might limit how much detail we can perceive, even with a good scope. Even so with clear skies the moons of Jupiter should be visible through the scopes. Maybe even the Great Red Spot which is so impressive and even beautiful, swirling away in the Jovian clouds, a hurricane-like feature that never dissipates.
This will be the first full moon of springtime – often called the Pink Moon, to celebrate the return of certain wild flowers. Other Northern Hemisphere names for this full moon are Egg Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, or Easter Moon. In most years, the Christian celebration of Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the spring. So Tuesday’s Easter Moon heralds the coming of Easter Sunday on April 16, 2017.
Thank you for keeping up with the Night Sky articles. If you are out later on in the week, each star rises about four minutes earlier each day than written here, and the moon rises 50 minutes later. Night Sky is researched and compiled by Lisa Davis-Burnett. Earthsky.org is a key resource for information and images. Questions or comments? Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
