Green moon on April: 20 Columbine, Hitler’s birthday and Islam

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The full moon on Wednesday, April 20, will not be green, despite several hoax reports making their way through social media. Maybe you noticed the incorrect day and date relationship in that first sentence. It’s not a mistake. In 2016, when we first debunked the green-moon social-media hoax, April 20 was a Wednesday. This year, April 20 is a Friday. That’s different, but just as in 2016, there will not be a green moon on April 20, 2018. Also, as in 2016, those social-media sharers have missed the fact that the full moon this month is April 30, a Monday.

Bottom line: No green full moon on April 20, this year or anywhere.

CLAIMS that a green moon would be visible for the first time in 420 years on April 20 went viral on Facebook this week — and space experts are ready to set the record straight: there’s no such thing as a “green moon,” and there won’t be any lunar surprises any time soon.
EarthSky says the fake phenomenon has been the top searched on their site for several weeks now, which means many are taking the “green moon literally”.

But the green moon is simply a made up event that stems from (you guessed it) 4/20, the numerical code for cannabis. Pot smokers recognise the date as a national holiday.

Facebook users are now creating hoax posts claiming the moon will turn green on Friday to mark the occasion. The fake posts can be traced back to 2016 when a user declared a green moon would appear in the night’s sky for the first time since 1847, according to fact-checking website Snopes.com. The post has since been deleted.