April's Pink Moon Rising Over Boston

May 09, 2017

Boston-moonrise-41117 (3)

Photographer: Chris Cook
Summary Authors: Chris Cook; Jim Foster

As shown above, April's full Pink Moon rises behind the skyline of Boston, Massachusetts. While April's full Moon is called the Pink Moon for the wild ground phlox flower that blooms during the spring in much of the U.S. and Canada, this Moon rose a vivid reddish/orange color. When the Moon (or Sun) is near the horizon, it typically looks reddish since the optically thicker atmosphere scatters out the shorter wavelengths of light (blues and greens). However, dust, haze and pollen (from flowering trees) also contribute to atmospheric scattering. Because of the warm spring temperatures in the eastern U.S. this year (April was 7 degrees F above normal at many locations), and rather dry conditions, a number of different tree species were flowering and released their pollen at nearly the same time. Thus, pollen counts were particular high. Look for the color of the rising full Moon tomorrow night (Flower Moon). Photo taken on the evening of April 11, 2017.

Photo Details: Camera Model: Canon EOS 6D; Lens: TAMRON SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD A011; Focal Length: 600mm; Aperture: ƒ/6.3; Exposure Time: 0.600 s; ISO equiv: 2500; Software: Adobe Photoshop CC (Windows).