In the night between Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th April, the Luna full – which reached its maximum at 5.33 am (Italian time) – appears a little larger than usual. It will be possible to observe when it will rise between 8.15 pm (in Lecce) and 9.10 pm (in Turin) because our satellite reached the point of its monthly orbit closest to the Earth at 5.25 pm, a point called perigeo. On many sites online and even on television at the full moon in April he was given the name Pink Superluna. But this is not a scientific definition: the moon does not appear pink at all, it does not change color compared to usual. And even on the concept of Superluna there are those who do not completely agree (especially since it is very difficult to see the difference with the naked eye).
Superluna
Over the millennia of astronomical observations no one has ever referred to the definition of Superluna and, much less, no one has ever noticed the moon take on the pink color. The term Superluna (Supermoon in the original English definition) has been attributed to the astronomer Richard Nolle since 1979. In the astrological journal Dell Horoscope wrote that if the full moon at perigee (the point of minimum distance from the Earth) less than 90% of the average distance (384,403 kilometers, measured from the center of the Earth to the center of the Moon) can be called Superluna, explaining for only years after choosing 90%. In practice: Superluna when it is less than 368,630 kilometers. According to other experts, one can speak of Superluna only at distances shorter than that chosen by Nolle. The distance of the perigee is not constant, but varies for various reasons (elliptical orbit of the moon, gravitational attractions). Ultimately, the Moon often occurs in a year at distances below the average, and perigee can occur several times in a year at distances closer to the Earth than the average. So the full moon supermoon is anything but rare: it happens 2-5 times a year. Sometimes the Moon at the perigee coincides with the lunar eclipse, as it will happen next May 26 (but it will not be visible in Italy). The peculiarity of the April full moon is another: the record astronomical tide it generates for particular physical reasons, as indicated here.
Pink moon
Some have then defined the current full moon pink moon (indeed, pink Superluna as it is closer than average). This definition has only been rediscovered in the United States for a few years, going to retrieve a forgotten definition of some Native American tribes who saw the prairies turn pink due to the flowering of the plant Phlox subulata, which blooms at the full moon of April. A definition that is part of the american folklore and which has no correspondence in other parts of the world such as Europe, the Middle East, India and China where lunar observations date back thousands of years. US folklore also calls the moon of late September-early October Hunter’s Moon (the hunter’s moon) and the second moon of the month Blue Moon (blue Moon). The moon does not turn blue: the term blue it is attributed with the meaning of a strange thing, out of the ordinary. Two moons in a month can happen because a lunar month lasts less (29 days) than a solar month: so if a full moon falls in the first two days of a month, it is possible that there is another one in the last days of the same month. . It happens on average once a year. Another thing there Blood Moon (blood moon): somewhat macabre definition for the reddish color that the moon assumes during the central phases of lunar eclipses.
The joke of the brain
Finally, speaking of Superluna, there is a mirage to be considered. Or rather, one joke that our brain plays on us. When it rises on the horizon, or when it sets, the Moon (but also the Sun) appear as two large red balls. a psychological phenomenon: we think that an object on the horizon is closer to us than one high up in the sky. The brain then makes the moon or sun appear larger than it is. This is why sunsets and sunrises (as well as colors) appear very beautiful to us. The phenomenon is well known and is called the lunar illusion. Instead the red color depends on the longer path that the rays have to travel in the atmosphere when they are on the horizon. Light is more absorbed in shades of blue-azure. What remains, and what we see, is the red light.
April 27, 2021 (change April 27, 2021 | 21:16)
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