People confined to their homes due to the 21-day nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak will be able to watch ‘Supermoon’ on April 8 evening. Supermoon, which will be a little larger than the usual full moon, will be visible from India in the evening of April 8, MP Birla Planetarium Director Debiprasad Duari said.
On April 8, the moon would rise from Kolkata horizon at 6.17 p.m. and set at 6.19 a.m. the next day, Mr. Durai said.
“It will be a spectacular sight to witness as it will be (one of) the brightest and the biggest full moons of 2020, and is being widely publicised as the ‘Pink Supermoon,’ the renowned astrophysicist said in a statement.
Traditionally, the full moon in the month of April is named after certain wild-flowers, called pink moss, native to eastern North America, and hence the name ‘pink’ refers to the pink flower that blossoms during this time and not the colour of the moon.
“People should try to see the moon just after its rise with the horizon as the background when a full moon looks spectacularly larger than during the later night hours when it is high above in the sky,” he said.