The April full moon comes today at 5:15 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. This is the most distant and smallest full moon of this year.
The moon's distance from Earth ranges from about 350,000 to 400,000 kilometers. In other words, at its most distant - before dawn tomorrow U.S. time - the moon will be about 50,000 kilometers - about 30,000 miles - farther away than at its closest.
Everyone around the world will see a full-looking moon throughout the night tonight. But we won't all see the moon at the instant that it's full. In the US, for instance, the moon will be just past full as it rises in the east at dusk. Tonight's moon is the first full moon since the March equinox. The first full moon of a northern hemisphere spring is commonly called the Paschal Full Moon. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon in spring. That's why Easter will come this Sunday.
Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere, tonight's moon will be the full moon that comes the closest to their autumnal equinox. For people in the southern hemisphere, tonight is their full Harvest Moon. All of us on Earth will see a bright star near the moon tonight. That star is Spica in the constellation Virgo. For today, that's our show. We're Block and Byrd for Earth & Sky.
The number 7 can help you figure out the dates of closest and most distant full moons. The closest full moon for 2007 will come seven full moons from now, on October 26. Seven full moons after that, we'll have a smallest full moon again, in May of 2008.
Thanks for that ^_^
emma01:11 AM PST