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The moon rises as the Metrorail crosses the Potomac River in Washington, DC on July 16, 2019 – 50 years since the day after astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin launched on Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The next full moon is Strawberry, Mead, Honey, Rose, Venus, Hot, Hoe, or Planting Moon, Vat Purnima, Poson Poya, LRO Moon and Marginal Super Moon.
The next full moon will appear on Thursday afternoon, June 24, 2021, opposite the Sun at Earth’s longitude at 2:40 PM EST. While this will be Thursday in most parts of the Earth, from India Standard Time East to Line Islands Time, and the International Date Line, this will be Friday morning. The moon will appear full for about three days at this time, from early morning Wednesday through early morning Saturday.
One moon, many names
In the 1930s, the Maine Farmer’s Almanac calendar began publishing Native American names for the full moons of the year. According to this calendar, the Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern United States were called the Strawberry Moon. The name comes from the relatively short strawberry harvest season in the northeastern United States.
The ancient European name for this full moon is Mead Moon or Honey Moon. Mead is a drink created by fermenting honey mixed with water and sometimes fruits, spices, grains, or hops. In some countries, mead is also called honey wine (although honey wine is different in other countries). Some writings indicate that the time near the end of June was the time when the honey was ready to be harvested, which made this moon “sweeter.”
The word “honeymoon” dates back to at least the 15th century in Europe. The tradition of naming the first month of marriage “honeymoon” may be related to this full moon because of the tradition of marrying in June or because “honeymoon” is the “sweetest” moon of the year.
Another European name for this full moon is the pink moon. Some sources indicate that the name “Rose Moon” comes from the roses that bloom at this time of year. Others suggest that the name comes from the color of the full moon at this time of year.
The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is about the same level as the Earth’s orbit around the Sun (only about 5 degrees). On the summer solstice, the sun appears highest in the sky all year long. The full moon is the opposite of the sun, so the full moon near the summer solstice will be low in the sky. Especially for the higher latitudes of Europe, when the full moon is low, it shines through more of the atmosphere, making it more likely to be reddish in color (for the same reasons that sunrise and sunset are red). For the Washington, D.C. region, on the morning of June 25, 2021, the full moon will reach its nighttime highs at 1:39 a.m. EDT, just 24.6 degrees above the southern horizon, the lowest full moon of the year.
Other seasonal names for this full moon that I’ve found mentioned in various sources (sometimes with European and sometimes Native American origins that I haven’t yet been able to verify) are Flower Moon, Hot Moon, Hoe Moon, and Planting Moon.
For Hindus, this full moon corresponds to Vat Purnima. During the three days of this full moon, married women will show their love for their husbands by tying a festive thread around a banyan tree. The celebration is based on the legend of Savitri and Satyavan.
For Buddhists, this full moon is Poson Poya. The Boson holiday in Sri Lanka celebrates the introduction of Buddhism in 236 BC.
Another tribe also gave a name to this full moon. This tribe is now scattered but lives mostly in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The language of this tribe is primarily English, but with a few liberal acronyms, obscure scientific and engineering jargon, and Hawaiian phrases (helpfully contributed by the Deputy Project Director). This tribe consisted of people of all backgrounds, many of whom went on to join other tribes, and this tribe was dedicated to the study of the moon. This tribe calls the June full moon the LRO Moon, in honor of the spacecraft it launched toward the moon on June 18, 2009. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter still orbits the moon and offers insights into our closest neighbor in space, some of which help us understand our planet.
Super or not super?
Different publications use slightly different thresholds to decide when a full moon will be close enough to Earth to qualify as a supermoon. For 2021, some publications consider this full moon to be the last of a series of four supermoons (from March to June). Other publications do not consider this a giant moon, because it is further from Earth (and smaller in size and apparent brightness) than the previous three full moons.
Full moons, new moons and calendars
In many traditional lunar calendars, full moons fall in the middle of the lunar months. This full moon is in the middle of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, and July in the Hebrew calendar. In the Islamic calendar, the months begin with the first sighting of the crescent moon shortly after the new moon. This full moon is near the middle of Dhul Qi’dah.
As usual, wearing appropriate celestial attire for the celebration in honor of the moon is encouraged.
Credit: NASA/Joel Kosky
The term “super moon” was coined by astrologer Richard Noll in 1979 and refers to a new moon or full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90% of its perigee, its closest approach to Earth.
Superhero movies have become popular over the past few decades. Depending on how you interpret this definition, in a typical year, there can be 2 to 4 full super moons in a row and 2 to 4 new super moons respectively.
Since we can’t see a new moon (except where it blocks the sun), what catches the audience’s attention are the giant full moons, as this moon appears near its largest and brightest moon each year.
Different publications use slightly different thresholds to decide when a full moon will be close enough to Earth to qualify as a supermoon.
For 2021, some publications consider the four full moons of March to June, some of the three full moons of April to June, and some of only two full moons of April and May as supermoons.
The full moons of April and May have been linked roughly as the closest full moons of the year. The full moon on May 26, 2021 was a little closer to Earth than the full moon on April 26, 2021, but only by as little as 0.04%!
›More about Supermoons
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