It’s your last chance to see a supermoon this year with the ‘strawberry’ moon
The last supermoon of 2021 — the “strawberry” full moon — will rise Thursday.
Viewers will see a large golden (sorry, not strawberry-colored) moon for two to three nights, according to EarthSky.
This supermoon becomes completely full at 2:40 p.m. ET on Thursday afternoon. It won’t be fully visible in North America until later in the evening during “moonrise,” when the sun sets and the moon ascends into view. But viewers all over the world can see the strawberry moon, depending on where they are in respect to the horizon.
Definitions of a supermoon can vary, but the term generally denotes a full moon that is brighter and closer to Earth and thus appears larger in the night sky.
“The term ‘supermoon’ is much more recent and has come to be any full or new moon within 90% of its closest approach to Earth,” wrote Christine Shupla, education and public engagement manager at the Lunar and Planetary Institute, in an email. “By that definition, the full Moon on June 24 is also a supermoon, even though it is not as close as the full Moon was in May or April.”
The strawberry moon rises over the ocean on Narrawallee Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on June 6, 2020.
Why is it called the Strawberry Supermoon?
The name comes from Algonquin tribes of Native Americans and this full moon was their sign to harvest wild strawberries, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
When is the best time to view the Strawberry Supermoon?
June’s supermoon will reach peak illumination at 2:40 p.m. on Thursday, June 24
Here are all of the full moons remaining this year and their names, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac:
July 23 — buck moon
August 22 — sturgeon moon
September 20 — harvest moon
October 20 — hunter’s moon
November 19 — beaver moon
December 18 — cold moon
