Pink moon: 1st supermoon of 2021 lights up night sky

The first supermoon of 2021 lit up the night sky Monday.

April's full moon is known as the pink moon, but it's not really pink.

The pink moon gets its name from phlox, pink flowers that bloom in the springtime, according to AccuWeather.

On Monday, the pink moon rose as a supermoon at 11:32 p.m. ET.

It was the first in a trio of consecutive supermoons, to be followed by another on May 26 and the final supermoon of the year on June 24.

A supermoon occurs when the full moon has its closest encounter with Earth.

AccuWeather recommends catching a supermoon from your back yard as it rises from the horizon, when it will look much bigger than normal.