Moon in the pink of condition

Pink is currently the hot topic from the night skies, though it's not really that color.

People looking up this week from various places could have seen an odd color to the moon - if they were able to see between rain clouds - though experts say it will pale in comparison to the supermoon that starts appearing on Sunday.

But despite the name there is no noticeable difference in color.

The full moon some may have glimpsed over Hong Kong early yesterday is known as the "pink moon" as it is named after pink flowers - phlox - that bloom in the springtime.

It is also a supermoon as it occurs when it is near its closest point to the Earth in its orbit.

Anna Ross, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, explained: "The average distance of the moon from Earth is 384,400 kilometers, but on Tuesday it came to a point 357,379 km away."

During this time the moon appeared about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter.

Ross added: "A supermoon is the result of a full moon occurring when the moon is near its closest point to the Earth in its orbit. This can happen because the moon orbits the Earth on an elliptical path rather than a circular one."