Pink Moon to light up night sky this Saturday: All you need to know

The next full moon, called Pink Moon, will be on Saturday (April 16) afternoon at 2:55 p.m. EDT. The Moon will appear full through early Monday morning, making this a full moon weekend.

Pink Moon is named after the herb moss pink, a plant native to the eastern U.S. that is one of the earliest widespread flowers of spring. April's full moon is also known as the Sprouting Grass, the Egg or Fish Moon, the Pesach, Passover, or Paschal Moon, the Hanuman Jayanti Festival Moon (the celebration of the birth of Lord Hanuman) and Bak Poya.

Here's hoping for clear skies! Look to the east-southeast around dawn Saturday to see Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter in a line starting at 15° above the horizon.The Moon will appear full all weekend: https://t.co/W5YRn3Hc45 pic.twitter.com/rcMY6y3Nl2

— NASA (@NASA) April 15, 2022

According to NASA, as evening twilight ends today at 8:47 p.m. EDT, the full moon will appear about 9 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon with the bright star Spica about 9 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. Mercury will appear only 2 degrees above the west-northwestern horizon and Sirius, the brightest of the stars in our night sky, will appear 24 degrees above the southwestern horizon. The bright star appearing nearest overhead will be Pollux, an orange-tinted star about 34 lightyears from Earth, at 68 degrees above the west-southwestern horizon.

Further, On April 23, the Moon will join the lineup of planets in the morning sky and will shift along this line, appearing near the planet Saturn on April 25, Mars on April 26, and Venus and Jupiter on April 27. Venus and Jupiter, two of the brightest planets in our solar system, will appear only half a degree apart on the mornings of April 30 and May 1, visible about 7 degrees above the eastern horizon as morning twilight begins.

Today's full "Pink Moon" will not turn a rosy hue, but is instead nicknamed for creeping phlox, a blossoming pink wildflower native to the eastern United States that blooms in spring. This full moon also coincides with the Passover and Easter holidays. https://t.co/SAotZPNyKy pic.twitter.com/pyxne8GA54

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) April 16, 2022