April's 'Pink' Full Moon As Seen From Space

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If you thought this week's full moon, also known as the "Pink Moon," looked spectacular fromEarth, then take a look at this photo of Earth's well-lit neighbor as seen byastronauts on the International Space Station.

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi posted this stunning moon photo fromthe space station on Thursday, a day after the full moon, making it his 14th"moon shot" photo since he launched to the orbiting lab in December. [Moremoon photos.]

"My favorite, 14th moon," Noguchi said viaTwitter, where he posted the photo as Astro_Soichi. Noguchi is an astronautwith the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and is in the middle of a six-monthmission to the space station. He lives on the station with five otherastronauts, three from Russia and two from the United States.

There is a speciallunar name for every full moon in a year.

The April 28 full moon is known as the "Full PinkMoon" because of the grass pink - or wild ground phlox ? flower, which isone of the earliest widespread flowers to bloom in the spring. This month'sfull moonis also known as the Sprouting Grass moon and the Egg moon.

Some coastal American Indian tribes have also referred to itas the Full Fish moon, since it marks a time when shad swim upstream to spawn.

The moon hit its peak fullness at 8:18 a.m. EDT (1218 GMT),so it was likely washed out as seen from NASA's space station Mission ControlCenter in Houston, where it was mid-morning. But Noguchi and his crewmates seesunrises and sunsets 16 times a day, giving them many more chances Wednesday tomarvel at the full moon from the space station.

More Moon Info:

Stunning Views From Space:

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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