'Super Pink Moon' rises tonight! Teach your kids about the biggest full moon of 2020

NEW YORK — Tonight (April 7), if you look up at the night sky, you'll see the "Super Pink Moon," the biggest supermoon of the year, shining big and bright.

The full moon will be at perigee-syzygy, meaning it will be closest to the Earth — 221,772 miles (356,907 kilometers) away — and the Earth, moon and sun will all align. This means that when a the moon is at perigee-syzygy, it will look larger and brighter than usual. But, because perigee-syzygy isn't that catchy, the term "supermoon" came about and this particular full moon was additionally nicknamed the "Super Pink Moon."

Now, unfortunately, this doesn't mean that the moon will actually be pink. This supermoon got its name because the April full moon often corresponds with the blooming of pink flowers in eastern North America. Still, "It will be bright and brilliant and absolutely gorgeous," Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History here in New York City, told Space.com.

Faherty added that, while you will be able to view this "Super Pink Moon" all night long as it rises, moves across the sky and sets, it will be especially breathtaking at moonrise. The spectacle is due to an optical illusion of sorts that occurs, as the moon is rising above the horizon that makes it appear larger. (You can search your local moonrise and moonset times here.)

With so many people self-isolating at home with their families right now, this "Super Pink Moon" is a great opportunity to have some fun and learn, Faherty said.

Families can start studying the moon with their young children and this supermoon is a great place to start, Faherty said. Not only is the supermoon extra bright and beautiful, but even the name "pink moon" makes it even more exciting for kids.

"This is an invitation for everybody to become that moo... (Read more)

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