'Pink' Full Moon Thursday Creates Cosmic Display with Lunar Eclipse

This month's full moon is set to occur this Thursday. But if you live in Europe, Africa or much of Asia, you may notice something especially interesting about it. The pink full moon will take place on the night of a lunar eclipse.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon pushes into the Earth's shadow, call its umbra. This can only occur when the sun, Earth and moon are all aligned with Earth in the middle. This means that, in consequence, a lunar eclipse can only occur the night of a full moon.

Of course, not all lunar eclipses are created equal. A total lunar eclipse, for example, is far more impressive than a partial lunar eclipse. The one occurring on Thursday, unfortunately, happens to be a partial eclipse. During the 110-minutes of the eclipse, the moon's northern hemisphere will push into Earth's partial shadow. You may be able to see a very slight gradient of grey darkening around the top part of the moon by about 3:30 p.m. EDT. The darkest you'll see is around 4:07 p.m. EDT, when the eclipse will reach its peak. For those without a telescope, the difference in shadowing will be difficult to view--the most you'll probably see is a faint "tarnishing" of the lunar surface.

Not only that, but the moon won't actually be "pink," despite its name. April's full moon is traditionally called the pink full moon, but it doesn't mean that the coloration will be any different.

Despite the fact that this eclipse is occurring during the daytime in North America and despite the fact that it won't actually be pink, patient sky watchers could still get a view of the phenomenon. And if you don't want to catch this one, that's okay. You'll be able to see something far more spectacular on November 3--a rare, hybrid solar eclipse.