Pink supermoon to light up sky

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

If you need a reason to get out of the house and see a show in our own backyard, tonight’s the night.

A pink supermoon will rise tonight, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

The moon will also be the closest to the Earth at about 221,772 miles away, Space.com said.

Not only does it have a colorful name, but it also is a supermoon and the first full moon of spring.

You will be able to see it just after sunset with it making its peak illumination at 10:35 p.m. EDT, according to the almanac.

But the show you want to see is right when it is just above the horizon when it appears golden. The pink name is only to connect it with the colors of spring flowers, not the color of the natural satellite.

The oversized appearance of the moon is actually an optical illusion, Space.com said.

The full moon that rises Tuesday is also the paschal full moon, or the moon that determines the day Easter lands.

Depending on the culture, the moon may also be called sprouting grass moon, the egg moon and the fish moon, according to the almanac.

You can use tonight's show in the sky as a learning opportunity using the pink moon as a jumping-off point for kids to learn about what's beyond the Earth, Space.com suggested.

NASA has set up an entire website called NASA at Home to help parents teach kids about space. The site includes e-books, virtual tours, videos and other educational materials.

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