On the night of April 13th, Russians could observe the so-called Pink Full Moon. The head of the Moscow Planetarium, Lyudmila Koshman, refuted reports that the Moon was pink.
The full moon occurred at 03:22 Moscow time, when the Moon was directly opposite the Sun, fully illuminated by its light. This is the second spring full moon, which is the first after the March equinox (March 20, 2025).
The color of the "Pink Moon," contrary to its name, did not become pink. Astronomer Koshman said that the changed color of the satellite is only associated with total lunar eclipses. This happens when the Moon enters the Earth's shadow and is illuminated by sunlight passing through our planet's atmosphere.
The Moon will not be pink this weekend. Unusual names for full moons found on the internet, such as Beaver, Pink, Sturgeon, Hare, Wolf Moon, have folklore roots. Native Americans gave names to all the full moons of the year and recorded them in the "Farmer's Almanac," which is quoted by the authors of such publications, without understanding the meaning and misleading readers.
The "Pink Moon" owes its name only to the Native Americans of North America. They associated the April full moon with the flowering of Phlox subulata — one of the first spring flowers with delicate pink petals.
Depending on the state of the Earth's atmosphere, it can be of different colors — from dark brown to light red.
Thus, the Moon acquired its colorful epithet thanks to the flower, but in reality, it can only rarely appear slightly pinkish.
