The full moon of the night of 7th-8th April was termed a "pink super moon". The super moon part is because the moon is within 90% of perigee - the closest approach to earth of its orbital path- and therefore the full moon would appear to be larger and brighter than the average full moon. In fact the moon is 40,000km closer to the earth than at average orbit, and this was the closest "super moon" of 2020.
The "pink" term refers not to the colour of the moon but is a name given by native American peoples to the April full moon, which occurs at the same time as the flowers of Moss Pink (Phlox subulata) bloom on the plains of central and eastern North America.
Over Aberdeenshire high cloud built during the evening but there were some nice views as the brilliance of the moon created a rainbow corona as it shone through.
2020 will also see a "blue moon" on 31st October when there will be two full moons in the month (and so 13 full moons in a calendar year) - an event uncommon enough to be "once in a blue moon".
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