First Super Moon of 2021 Scheduled for Monday Night

If you fashion yourself as somewhat of an astronomer, the months of April and May will feature some celestial activity worth checking out here in the Sioux Empire. Now the only question remains, will Mother Nature be willing to cooperate when it comes to viewing the events?

The first event is scheduled for Monday night (April 26). That is when the first super moon of 2021 will show up in the night sky.

The April super moon, otherwise known as the pink moon, will be at optimal viewing around 10:32 PM here in Sioux Falls.

Get our free mobile app

Right now, our friends over at the Dakota News Now Weather Center are predicting a mostly cloudy evening on Monday, which could make viewing the super moon rather difficult. We get two opportunities to view this super moon next week, as the moon will appear full in the night sky on both Monday and Tuesday evening here in North America.

The second super moon of the year comes up again on (May 26). As Dakota News Now reports, next month's super moon will once again happen at a time of the month when earth's closest neighbor is the nearest to earth in its orbit.

Again, should we be able to see the moon that night, it will appear extra big and bright. Up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a micro moon, according to NASA. We experience a micro moon each time the moon is the furthest away from Earth.

Even though Monday night's moon is called a pink moon, it won't appear pink colored at all. As Dakota News Now reports, the pink moon always corresponds with the early springtime blooms of a certain wildflower native to eastern North America. That flower is the Phlox subulate, otherwise known as 'moss pink'.

That is how this late April moon derived the name pink moon.

Source: Dakota News Now