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Later this month, a full Strawberry Moon will appear in the night sky ahead of the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice.
This Strawberry Moon will also be a supermoon, meaning it will appear slightly bigger and brighter than a normal full moon, although these differences will be hard to spot for casual stargazers.
Full moons are lunar phases that occur roughly once every month when our natural satellite is located opposite to the sun, with the Earth in between.
During a full moon, the side that faces towards our planet is fully illuminated, appearing like a perfect circle.
In June 2022, the full moon will be visible on the night of June 14, appearing just after sunset—rising in the southeast.
Technically, the moon only turns full for a moment. On June 14, this moment will occur at 7:52 a.m. Eastern Time, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. However, the moon will not be visible in North America until later that evening, after sunset.
Although the moon technically only turns full for a moment, it will appear full to most observers for around three days centered on this time.
The traditional names given to the full moons originate from a number of places and historical periods, including Native American, colonial American and European sources.
A full moon that falls in June, for example, is often referred to by the name "Strawberry Moon."
According to the Almanac, this name has been used by several Native American peoples in reference to the time of year that "June-bearing" strawberries are ready to be gathered.
The Strawberry Moon in 2022 has also been referred to as a "supermoon." This term is used to describe the moon when it is very close to its perigee—the point in its orbit when it is closest to Earth.
The distance between the moon and the Earth is not constant because our natural satellite is locked in an elliptical orbit.
While supermoon is a non-scientific term—and there are several definitions—it is often used to describe any full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90 percent of its minimum distance from the Earth.
"A supermoon is about 7 percent larger and 15 percent brighter than the average full moon, but casual stargazers will not recognize this at first glance: those are
not really obvious variations," astronomer Gianluca Masi from the Virtual Telescope Project told Newsweek.
"But the difference in apparent size can be seen on photographs: take a picture of the upcoming supermoon and compare it with another picture of a typical full moon, provided you use the very same equipment/zoom factor. You will see the difference," he said.
The June Strawberry Moon will appear shortly before the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice, an astronomical event that marks the longest day of the year for this region and the beginning of astronomical summer.
The solstice is the point in the year when the North Pole is tilted furthest towards the sun. At the June solstice, our star will take the longest route between rising and setting, which is why the day on which it falls will have the most hours of sunlight and the shortest night of the year.
While the term "summer solstice" is often used to refer to the longest day of the year in its entirety, the event technically only occurs at a specific moment in time, which will be 5:14 a.m. ET on June 21 in 2022.
About the writer
Aristos is a Newsweek science and health reporter with the London, U.K., bureau. He is particularly focused on archaeology and ... Read more