The full ‘strawberry moon’ will arrive with summer solstice this year: Here’s when to see it and what it means
The full ‘strawberry moon’ will arrive with summer solstice this year: Here’s when to see it and what it means
It won’t be red or pink, but Friday’s moon will have a colorful name nonetheless. We’ll fill you in on what’s happening with the first full moon of the summer.
BY Shannon Cudd
It’s been a busy week for the night sky, and it all culminates on Friday with a full moon known as the “strawberry moon.” In addition to reaching its peak, the moon also ushers in the summer solstice. Here’s what you need to know:
Thursday: The Summer Solstice
This day marks the longest day and shortest night of the year. The Earth’s north axis reaches its maximum tilt toward the sun. Summer is officially here . . . if the heat didn’t already give it away.
Friday: The full moon
The June 2024 full moon will arrive on Friday, 9:08 p.m. ET. The website TimeandDate.com has a tool that lets you look up moonrise times in your area.
Why do full moons appear? The moon has eight different phrases. These occur because, as the moon orbits the sun, the amount of its surface that is lit up and visible from Earth changes.
Halfway through the orbit, the moon looks full. This is when the Earth is in between the moon and sun, and the moon is directly opposite of the light source. The moon takes 29.5 days to complete the cycle, which is about a month.
When we experience two full moons in the same calendar month, it is called a blue moon. This happens about every 33 months—or, um, once in a blue moon.
Why is it called a strawberry moon?
As NASA pointed out in a blog post last week, June’s full moon is also known as the strawberry moon. This is the first time in 40 years that it falls on the first day of summer. The moon gets its name because it’s peak season for harvesting strawberries in the Northeast.
The Maine Farmers’ Almanac began publishing Native American names for the monthly full moons in the 1930s, according to NASA’s post. Many of these revolve around nature. Other monikers for this month’s moon include the flower moon, hot moon, and planting moon.
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