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<\/p>\nAfter a pair of eclipses over the past few weeks, both lunar\u00a0and solar, skywatchers will be in for another treat this week.<\/p>\n
The full strawberry moon will grace the night sky this\u00a0Thursday\u00a0across the world.<\/p>\n
Although the moon will officially be full before it pops above the horizon, it will look plenty big when it rises in the eastern sky Thursday evening, about the same time as the sun is setting in the western sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alas, although it will be a supermoon,\u00a0it won’t look like a strawberry, and it probably won’t be red, astronomers say, although it may have a golden color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
June\u2019s full moon will reach peak illumination at 2:40 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday\u00a0but will not be visible until later that evening, when it drifts above the horizon,\u00a0according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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June's full moon, known as the Strawberry Moon, rises above the Apollo Temple in ancient Corinth, on June 17, 2019. (Photo: VALERIE GACHE, AFP\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n June’s full moon is called this name because it signaled to some Native American tribes that it was the time of year to gather ripening strawberries, the Almanac says..\u00a0<\/p>\n The strawberry moon is the most colorful of the year because it takes a low, shallow path across the sky, said Bob Bonadurer, director of the Milwaukee Public Museum’s planetarium.<\/p>\n The low arc of the June full moon across the sky means moonlight must travel through more of the Earth’s atmosphere, which often gives it an orange or yellow tint.<\/p>\n The strawberry moon is also called hot moon because it rises right around the beginning of summer.<\/p>\n In Europe, alternative names include the honey moon, the mead moon or the rose moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n This Thursday’s full moon will\u00a0also be the fourth and final supermoon of 2021, when the moon looks somewhat\u00a0bigger and brighter than usual since it’s a bit closer to the Earth than usual.<\/p>\n The previous three supermoons were in March, April and May, according to NASA. “Different publications use slightly different thresholds for deciding when a full moon is close enough to the Earth to qualify as a supermoon,” NASA said.<\/p>\n “Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit,” according to NASA.\u00a0<\/p>\n On average, supermoons appear about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full moon.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhy is it called the strawberry moon?<\/h2>\n
What is a supermoon?<\/h2>\n
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