moon over ocean.
(Image credit: Kiyomi Yoshimatsu / 500px / Getty Images)

April's "pink moon" will make its annual reappearance on Wednesday night, but it won't be pink like the name suggests. Rather, the moniker is simply in reference to the herb "moss pink," which blooms in spring, NASA explains. Other names for the phenomenon include "Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes, the Fish Moon, as this was when the shad swam upstream to spawn."

The orb will reach peak illumination just after midnight on Thursday morning and will mark the first full moon of spring. It will be visible in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres and can also be seen toward the east on Wednesday evening and toward the west before sunrise on Thursday morning, according to EarthSky.

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Devika Rao, The Week US

 Devika Rao has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022, covering science, the environment, climate and business. She previously worked as a policy associate for a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental action from a business perspective.