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The full moon of June, commonly known as the strawberry moon, is named because of its appearance during the strawberry picking season. Here, a strawberry moon rises over the Temple of Apollo in ancient Corinth, on June 17, 2019. Valerie Gache / AFP via Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Valerie Gach/AFP via Getty Images
The full moon of June, commonly known as the strawberry moon, is named because of its appearance during the strawberry picking season. Here, a strawberry moon rises over the temple of Apollo in ancient Corinth, on June 17, 2019.
Valerie Gach/AFP via Getty Images
Look up into the eastern sky for a beautiful sight on Thursday evening: the strawberry moon rises just as the sun sinks below the horizon.
The full moon of June is known as the strawberry moon, and is the first full moon after the summer solstice. It is also a marginal satellite moon, according to NASA, with definitions of a giant moon varying widely between publications.
NASA says that while the moon will still be large and at one of its closest points to Earth in its elliptical orbit, this moon will be farther from our planet than the last three moons.
The strawberry moon got its sweet name from the Algonquin tribes in North America, who associated its appearance with the beginning of the strawberry picking season. So it won’t appear red or pink. It will look as big and golden as it appears above the horizon, says Jackie Ferti, an astrophysicist at the American Museum of Natural History.
“It will look golden. It can have a bit of a red tinge depending on what’s in the atmosphere, but mostly it will look nice yellow,” Fahrty says.
Moonrise is the perfect time to get the most stunning views of our gray celestial neighbour, Faherty says, as it will appear at its largest and most colorful when it is above the horizon. She considers viewing the full moon rising as one of the “most underappreciated astronomical phenomena” and encourages viewers on Thursday to view the moon’s most detailed characteristics as the rising sun shines vividly.
“You can look for the dark parts and the bright parts, and the moon is especially close,” she said. “You can see some structures – there are mountains on the moon, there are valleys on the moon. You can try to look for all of that as it rises.”
The strawberry moon is a multi-named moon, including “honey moon”.
While the strawberry moon in some circumstances can temporarily appear reddish or pink, it is named for the start of the strawberry picking season, not the color. Here, a strawberry moon rises behind Mount St Michael in Maraison near Penzance on June 28, 2018 in Cornwall, England. Matt Cardi/Getty Images Hide the caption
Switch caption Matt Cardi / Getty Images
While the strawberry moon in some circumstances can temporarily appear reddish or pink, it is named for the start of the strawberry picking season, not the color. Here, a strawberry moon rises behind Mount St Michael in Maraison near Penzance on June 28, 2018 in Cornwall, England.
Matt Cardi / Getty Images
Strawberry moon has many other names, including “hot moon” for introducing warmer summer weather, “rose moon” for the time when roses bloom in late June, and “honey moon”, an old European name because it appeared when honey . They were ready to be harvested from beehives to make syrup, according to NASA. The word “honeymoon”, dating back to the 1500s, may be associated with this particular moon, possibly due to the number of marriages in June.
“We came up with names for the moon because it used to be what people looked at and made their calendars with through the original lunar calendars,” Fahrty said. “That’s why we get these really fun descriptive names. Not because of what it’s going to look like, but because of what’s going on around you.”
While Thursday’s strawberry moon will reach peak illumination around 2:40 p.m. ET, it won’t be visible until it appears above the horizon. But Faherty says that won’t significantly impair her vitality.
To find out when the moon is set to rise and set in your area, use a calendar moonrise/moon set calculator.
Don’t see the best place to live? You can also watch the Strawberry Moon live online as it rises and sits over Rome.
Josie Fishels is an intern with the NPR News Desk.
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