Green moon on April 20, 2018? Nah
The green moon rumor started
in 2016. Now it’s back. It’s a joke, y’all. We’re not going to have a
green moon on April 20, 2018. This joke has its roots (ahem) in cannabis
culture.
The April 20 green moon hoax is back … and
it’s only February! This hoax got started in 2016. As with so many
Internet hoaxes, it seems to be returning every year. How do we know? A
2017 post about it on our site has been the most popular story at
EarthSky for two days running. That means people are googling the words green moon.
Here’s the main version of this particular hoax: the moon will appear
green for the first time in 420 years on April 20, 2018. True? No, not
even kinda. Snopes called it:
… entirely humorous in nature.
And it is pretty funny when you think
about April 20 (4-20) and 420 years, and realize that 420 is a code word
for marijuana (invented, according to Urban Dictionary, by “dozen pot-smoking wiseacres” at San Rafael High School in 1971) and that the date April 20 has special meaning to some as Weed Day.
All of that notwithstanding, many appear to be taking the April 20, 2018, green moon literally.
And we repeat … it’s not true.
???????????????????? omg for real?? "@DiscloseTV: Don't miss the GREEN MOON on April 20thhttps://t.co/WjUkoV9Ad9 pic.twitter.com/YHdfw4PlIV"— Freia L.S (@lovelornbelle) April 4, 2016
Snopes explained said that the meme began
as a photograph on Facebook claiming that on May 29, 2016, the moon
would appear green in the sky:
The Facebook user added the following
completely erroneous piece of information in explanation of his post.
Why erroneous? Uranus is nowhere near the moon on this night; in fact,
it’s about half a sky away.
For those who need information on how this works … All night long on Sunday, May 29th the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, will park itself near the moon. The green giant is only 4 degrees away from the moon. The cosmic odd-couple will appear about four degrees apart in the sky—equal to 8 full moons side-by-side. This week after darkness falls the near full moon acts as a convenient guidepost for finding Uranus.
He later took his post down and photo down.
Bottom line: No, there won’t be a green moon on April 20, 2018.
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