Paschal Full Moon Lights The Night Sky

Tonight [Apr 17/18] saw the Paschal Full Moon which is traditionally seen just before Easter. The name “paschal” is derived the Hebrew word “pesach,” which is used to refer to Passover. The photos below of the Paschal Full Moon were taken off the east end of Bermuda.

Joe Rao from Space.com said, “The first full moon of spring, however, is usually designated as the Paschal Full Moon or the Paschal Term. Traditionally, Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. So if the Paschal Moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday.”

“Following these celestial rules, we find that Easter can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. Pope Gregory XIII decreed this in 1582 as part of the Gregorian calendar. So according to the current ecclesiastical rules Easter in 2011 is to be celebrated nearly as late as it can come, on April 24.”

Amongst Native American tribes the April full moon was known as the “Pink Moon,” as the pink colored wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names used include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and – among coastal tribes – the Full Fish Moon.

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Category: All, Environment, News