Don’t forget to look up on Monday night — Super Pink Moon will be huge

If your dog starts howling at the sky on Monday night you'll know why. The pink super moon is going to fill the sky after sunset and it will be awesome.

The first in a trio of consecutive super moons will rise on the night of April 26 into the early morning of April 27.  It will be visible around the globe, as long as we don't have clouds. If clouds do interfere on Monday night, people can look for it again on Tuesday night since the moon will still look bigger and pinker than usual.

So what is a super moon? The term super-moon was coined by Astrologer Richard Noell back in 1979. The moon orbits the Earth, there are points in its orbit where it is a bit closer to the planet, that's called perigee, and times where it is a bit farther away, called that's called apogee. When the full moon occurs at the time it is near perigee, it looks bigger and brighter than a normal full moon, and that is how it got the name super moon.

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Whether it's a super moon or not, April’s full moon is commonly called the Pink Moon. This nickname is is not actually due to the color of the moon, but rather the pink petals of the herb moss pink, one of the earliest wildflowers to bloom in the spring around the United States.

However, since this month’s full moon is also a super moon, the nicknames can be combined to create the Super Pink Moon! I like getting more bang for my buck.

The last full moon of astronomical spring will appear in the sky next month early in the morning on May 26. Skywatchers will be able to witness another super moon and a total lunar eclipse as well.

This will be the first total lunar eclipse visible from the U.S. since Jan. 20, 2019, although only folks across the western U.S. will be able to see the total eclipse. So grab a blanket and your date and get ready to gaze at the sky!