The Pink Moon, April’s full moon, reaches full at 6:27 p.m. EDT (22:27 UTC) on Tuesday, April 20, 2027. It falls on Wednesday, April 21, in India and Australia, and it rises just after sunset across the United States.
The Pink Moon is the traditional name for the full moon of April. In 2027, it reaches full on the evening of Tuesday, April 20, in every US time zone, about 15 hours after the Sun enters Taurus.
Unlike most years, the 2027 Pink Moon does not set the date of Easter: Easter 2027 falls on March 28, 23 days before it, because the March full moon came after the spring equinox. The Pink Moon also lines up with Hanuman Jayanti on April 20 and falls the day before Passover begins.
This page gives the exact time in every US time zone, moonrise times for four US cities, the Pink Moon dates from 2026 to 2031, and where the name comes from.
Table of Contents
When is the Pink Moon 2027?
The Pink Moon 2027 is full at 22:27 UTC on Tuesday, April 20, 2027, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. Moonblink gives 22:27:01 UTC, which rounds to the same minute. The table below converts it to US and international time zones.
| Time zone | Pink Moon 2027 (exact full moon) |
|---|---|
| UTC | Tuesday, April 20, 10:27 p.m. |
| US Eastern | Tuesday, April 20, 6:27 p.m. EDT |
| US Central | Tuesday, April 20, 5:27 p.m. CDT |
| US Mountain | Tuesday, April 20, 4:27 p.m. MDT |
| US Pacific | Tuesday, April 20, 3:27 p.m. PDT |
| Alaska | Tuesday, April 20, 2:27 p.m. AKDT |
| Hawaii | Tuesday, April 20, 12:27 p.m. HST |
| London | Tuesday, April 20, 11:27 p.m. BST |
| India | Wednesday, April 21, 3:57 a.m. IST |
| Sydney | Wednesday, April 21, 8:27 a.m. AEST |
The 2027 Pink Moon falls on Tuesday, April 20, in the Americas and in time zones up to UTC+1, such as London and Lagos, but on Wednesday, April 21, from UTC+2 eastward.
That includes Paris and Berlin, where it comes at 12:27 a.m. CEST, as well as India and Australia. The full moon before it is the Worm Moon of Monday, March 22, and the next is the Flower Moon of Thursday, May 20.
Some published calendars list the 2027 Pink Moon as Wednesday, April 21, at 8:46 a.m. Eastern Time. That does not match the Naval Observatory or Moonblink, which both put the full moon at 22:27 UTC on April 20. In US time zones, the 2027 Pink Moon is a Tuesday full moon.
Pink Moon moonrise times in US cities
The exact full moon comes in the late afternoon or early evening across the United States, while the Moon is still below the horizon.
It then rises within 15 minutes of sunset on Tuesday, April 20, which makes that evening the best time to see it.
The table below gives sunset, moonrise, moonset, and the share of the disc lit for four US cities, from the Naval Observatory’s rise and set data.
| City | Tuesday, April 20: sunset | Tuesday, April 20: moonrise (lit) | Wednesday, April 21: moonset | Wednesday, April 21: moonrise (lit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (EDT) | 7:41 p.m. | 7:50 p.m. (100%) | 6:03 a.m. | 9:00 p.m. (99%) |
| Chicago (CDT) | 7:37 p.m. | 7:50 p.m. (100%) | 5:56 a.m. | 9:01 p.m. (99%) |
| Denver (MDT) | 7:43 p.m. | 7:58 p.m. (100%) | 6:12 a.m. | 9:07 p.m. (99%) |
| Los Angeles (PDT) | 7:28 p.m. | 7:42 p.m. (100%) | 6:20 a.m. | 8:47 p.m. (99%) |
In New York, the Pink Moon rises at 7:50 p.m. EDT, 9 minutes after sunset and 1 hour and 23 minutes after it becomes full.
In Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles, it rises 13 to 15 minutes after sunset. The Moon then stays up all night and sets around dawn on Wednesday, April 21.
In Los Angeles, it sets at 6:20 a.m., 5 minutes after the 6:15 a.m. sunrise, so early risers there can see the full moon low in the west in daylight.
The Pink Moon and Easter: why 2027 is different
Western churches celebrate Easter on the Sunday after the paschal full moon, the first full moon on or after March 21. In most years that is the April full moon.
In 2027 it is not: the March equinox fell on Saturday, March 20, and the Worm Moon followed on Monday, March 22, so the Worm Moon became the paschal full moon and set Easter Sunday 2027 on March 28.
By the time the 2027 Pink Moon rises on April 20, Easter is already more than three weeks past. The table below shows how the April full moon relates to Easter from 2026 to 2031.
| Year | April full moon (Eastern Time) | Western Easter Sunday | Does the April full moon set Easter? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Wednesday, April 1 | Sunday, April 5 | Yes |
| 2027 | Tuesday, April 20 | Sunday, March 28 | No; the March full moon does |
| 2028 | Sunday, April 9 | Sunday, April 16 | Yes |
| 2029 | Saturday, April 28 | Sunday, April 1 | No; the March full moon does |
| 2030 | Wednesday, April 17 | Sunday, April 21 | Yes |
| 2031 | Monday, April 7 | Sunday, April 13 | Yes |
The 2028 Pink Moon falls on a Sunday. Because Easter must come after the paschal full moon, not on it, Easter 2028 moves to the following Sunday, April 16.
The church calculation uses a fixed March 21 equinox and a tabulated moon rather than observed ones, but in each of these years the two methods give the same Easter date.
Passover, Hanuman Jayanti and the 2027 Pink Moon
Two other observances in April 2027 follow the full moon.
Passover: The Hebrew calendar is lunar, with each month beginning near the new moon, so the 15th of Nisan, when Passover begins, falls close to the full moon.
In 2027, Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 21, and ends at nightfall on Thursday, April 29, outside Israel, according to Hebcal and Chabad.org. The first Seder is on the evening of April 21, the night after the Pink Moon.
Hanuman Jayanti: In North India, Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated on Chaitra Purnima, the full moon of the month of Chaitra. In 2027, it falls on Tuesday, April 20, according to Drik Panchang and AstroSight.
The religious festival is on April 20 even though the exact full moon comes at 3:57 a.m. IST on April 21, because Hindu festival dates follow the lunar day (tithi) in force at sunrise, and in India the Purnima tithi is already underway at sunrise on April 20.
Pink Moon dates for 2026 to 2031
The Pink Moon shifts about 11 days earlier each year, then jumps later when a 13th full moon falls into the year.
| Year | Pink Moon (Eastern Time) | Pacific Time | UTC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Wednesday, April 1, 10:12 p.m. EDT | Wednesday, April 1, 7:12 p.m. PDT | Apr 2, 02:12 |
| 2027 | Tuesday, April 20, 6:27 p.m. EDT | Tuesday, April 20, 3:27 p.m. PDT | Apr 20, 22:27 |
| 2028 | Sunday, April 9, 6:26 a.m. EDT | Sunday, April 9, 3:26 a.m. PDT | Apr 9, 10:26 |
| 2029 | Saturday, April 28, 6:37 a.m. EDT | Saturday, April 28, 3:37 a.m. PDT | Apr 28, 10:37 |
| 2030 | Wednesday, April 17, 11:20 p.m. EDT | Wednesday, April 17, 8:20 p.m. PDT | Apr 18, 03:20 |
| 2031 | Monday, April 7, 1:21 p.m. EDT | Monday, April 7, 10:21 a.m. PDT | Apr 7, 17:21 |
Two of these Pink Moons fall a day earlier in the United States than in UTC: April 1, 2026, and April 17, 2030. In those years, European calendars print the next day’s date. The 2027 Pink Moon is the second-latest of the six; only the 2029 Pink Moon, on April 28, comes later in the month.
What is the Pink Moon?
The Pink Moon is a traditional name for the full moon of April. Like every full moon, it is the instant the Moon stands opposite the Sun, 180 degrees away along the ecliptic, so its whole Earth-facing side is lit. The name does not reflect any astronomical difference from other full moons, and the Moon does not turn pink.
Where the Pink Moon name comes from
The name comes from a flower, not the colour of the Moon. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, it refers to Phlox subulata, a wildflower native to eastern North America known as creeping phlox, moss phlox, or “moss pink,” which blooms around the April full moon.
The Farmers’ Almanac gives the same explanation, describing moss pink as a creeping ground phlox that blooms across the eastern United States and Canada at about this time.
The Maine Farmers’ Almanac began publishing such moon names in the 1930s, and the 1937 edition credited them to “our early English ancestors,” according to Wikipedia, so the origin of the full set of names is disputed.
Other names for the April full moon
The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists these April full moon names, with the peoples it attributes them to. It notes that such names refer to the whole lunar month, not only the full moon.
| Name | Attributed to |
|---|---|
| Breaking Ice Moon | Algonquin |
| Moon When the Streams Are Again Navigable | Dakota |
| Moon When the Geese Lay Eggs | Dakota |
| Budding Moon of Plants and Shrubs | Tlingit |
| Moon of the Red Grass Appearing | Oglala |
| Moon When the Ducks Come Back | Lakota |
| Frog Moon | Cree |
| Sucker Moon | Anishinaabe |
The Farmers’ Almanac adds names used in colonial and European traditions, including the Egg Moon, the Fish Moon, the Planter’s Moon and the Seed Moon, as well as the Sprouting Grass Moon.
The 2027 Pink Moon’s distance and zodiac sign
The 2027 Pink Moon is 383,426 km from Earth at full, according to Moonblink. That places it sixth-closest of the 12 full moons of 2027, in the middle of the range: 25,782 km farther than the January 22 supermoon and 22,547 km closer than the July 18 Buck Moon, the farthest full moon of the year. It is not a supermoon.
At the Pink Moon, the Sun is in Taurus, which it entered at 3:17 a.m. EDT on April 20, about 15 hours before the full moon. The Moon stands opposite it in Scorpio, so in astrology this is the full moon in Scorpio.
2027 has two full moons in Scorpio, on April 20 and May 20, because the May full moon also falls while the Sun is still in Taurus, about 19 hours before the Sun moves into Gemini.
How to see the Pink Moon
The Pink Moon is visible to the naked eye wherever the sky is clear. These steps give the best view in the United States:
- Check your local sunset and moonrise for Tuesday, April 20, 2027; in the four cities above, the Moon rises between 7:42 and 7:58 p.m. local daylight time.
- Find a spot with a clear, low view of the eastern horizon, since the Moon comes up only minutes after sunset.
- Watch during the first 30 to 60 minutes after moonrise, while the Moon is low against the twilight sky.
- If April 20 is cloudy, look on Wednesday, April 21, when the 99%-lit Moon rises between 8:47 and 9:07 p.m. local time.
The Pink Moon and the Lyrid meteor shower
The Lyrid meteor shower is active in the second half of April, and its 2027 peak comes only two days after the Pink Moon. EarthSky predicts the peak at 01:11 UTC and Star Walk at 01:40 UTC on Friday, April 23, which is 9:11 to 9:40 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 22.
Both sources warn that the bright waning gibbous Moon will wash out the fainter meteors in 2027. EarthSky suggests watching from the Moon’s shadow, such as beside a building, to reduce the glare.
What the Pink Moon is not
Several terms are linked to the April full moon. The table below sets out the differences.
| Term | What it means | Relation to the 2027 Pink Moon |
|---|---|---|
| Pink Moon | Traditional name for April’s full moon | Tuesday, April 20, 2027 |
| A pink-coloured Moon | The Moon turning pink | No; the name comes from the moss pink flower |
| Paschal full moon | The first full moon on or after March 21 in the church calendar | Not in 2027; it was the March 22 Worm Moon |
| Seasonal Blue Moon | The third of four full moons in one season | No; the Pink Moon is the second of four spring full moons, and the next, May 20, is the Blue Moon |
| Supermoon | A full moon near the Moon’s closest approach to Earth | No; 2027’s only supermoon is January 22 |
| Lyrid meteor shower | Meteors from Comet Thatcher’s debris | Peaks April 22 to 23, two days after the Pink Moon |
Frequently asked questions
When is the Pink Moon in 2027?
The Pink Moon in 2027 is on Tuesday, April 20, at 6:27 p.m. EDT (22:27 UTC), according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. In Pacific Time, it falls at 3:27 p.m. PDT. It rises within about 15 minutes of sunset that evening across the United States, so Tuesday night is the best time to see it.
Is the 2027 Pink Moon on April 20 or April 21?
It depends on your time zone. The full moon comes at 22:27 UTC on April 20, so it falls on Tuesday, April 20, in the Americas and in the UK, Ireland, and Portugal. From UTC+2 eastward, it falls on Wednesday, April 21, including Paris and Berlin, India at 3:57 a.m. IST and Sydney at 8:27 a.m. AEST.
Why is it called the Pink Moon?
The Old Farmer’s Almanac and the Farmers’ Almanac both say the name comes from moss pink, or creeping phlox (Phlox subulata), a wildflower of eastern North America that blooms around the April full moon. Other April names include the Breaking Ice Moon, the Frog Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Sprouting Grass Moon.
Is the Pink Moon actually pink?
No. The Pink Moon looks like any other full moon. The name refers to the pink flowers of moss pink, or creeping phlox, which bloom in eastern North America in April. To see the 2027 Pink Moon, look east just after sunset on Tuesday, April 20, when it rises 9 to 15 minutes after sunset in major US cities.
Does the Pink Moon set the date of Easter in 2027?
No. In 2027, the March full moon, the Worm Moon of March 22, came after the March equinox, so it set Easter on Sunday, March 28. The Pink Moon follows 23 days later. The April full moon does set Easter in 2026, 2028, 2030, and 2031.
When is the Pink Moon in 2028?
The 2028 Pink Moon is on Sunday, April 9, 2028, at 6:26 a.m. EDT (10:26 UTC), according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. Because it falls on a Sunday and is the paschal full moon, Easter 2028 falls on the following Sunday, April 16. The 2029 Pink Moon falls on Saturday, April 28.
What sign is the Pink Moon in 2027?
The 2027 Pink Moon is in Scorpio. At full moon, the Moon sits opposite the Sun, and on April 20, 2027, the Sun is in Taurus, which it entered at 3:17 a.m. EDT that morning. In astrology, this is called the full moon in Scorpio. The next full moon, the Flower Moon of May 20, is also in Scorpio.
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