CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – The Full Moon in April 2023 is known as a Pink Moon. This particular full moon is also known as an “Easter Moon” and “The Paschal Moon” because it is the first full moon after the Spring Equinox and the date of Easter is always set to occur on the Sunday after the first full moon in Spring.
The 2023 Pink Moon will begin with a moonrise over the Atlantic Ocean off the U.S. east coast around 7:26 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Wednesday, April 5, 2023, with a slight time variation depending on the viewer’s exact location in Florida and along the U.S. east coast.
The Full Pink Moon will technically be at its fullest 100% illumination at 12:37 a.m. EDT on Thursday, April 6, 2023.
The April 2023 Full Moon will be 100% full that night before setting the following morning at 7:24 a.m. EDT.
According to NASA, the Moon will appear full for three days around this time, from Tuesday evening to Friday morning.
Low-hanging moons near the horizon appear larger to humans.
So, the Full Pink Moon will appear biggest to the naked eye on the U.S east coast during and just after the moonrise around 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
A Full Moon in April is also called a Pink Moon because Colonial Americans learned that name from Native Americans who associated the April Full Moon with the blooming of pink flowers in early Spring named wild ground phlox, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
Other names for April’s Full Moon are also associated with Springtime: Full Sprouting Grass Moon (sprouting vegetation in Spring), Egg Moon (animal mating in Spring), and Full Fish Moon (when fish spawn in spring).
The time of year that a Full Moon happens does not affect its color. The Full Moon on April 6, 2023, will likely be pearly-gray to most locations on Earth just like any other Full Moon.
But particles in the local atmosphere caused by weather, forest fires, volcanoes, and pollution can filter out certain light colors of the moon.
This is especially true when the moon rises or sets near the horizon and the sunlight reflecting from the moon has more atmosphere to travel through before reaching the viewer on Earth.
Full Moons have appeared pink, yellow, red, blue, green, and (most often) orange.
Below is a video of an April Full Moon that really was pink when it first appeared over the Atlantic Ocean horizon. The Moon then changed from pink to orange (and later yellow) as it rose higher in the sky.
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