The summer solstice coincides with the arrival of Big Strawberry Moon on June 20. So, this Summer Solstice is a special event for the skywatchers. The longest summer solstice day of the year, arrives today at 6:30pm EST. Â Strawberry Moon is also known as Rose Moon, Long Night Moon, Hot Moon or Honey Moon in some parts of the world. The Strawberry moon falling on the same day of summer solstice is fairly rare event, which once coincided in 1967.
When a full moon coincides with the summer solstice it is called a Strawberry Moon. This special moon is not because its color and it is not actually wider than the normal full moon. But the human brain can see it differently while it is peaking. The story behind the name is Algonquin tribes used this moon as a signal that fruits including strawberries are ready to harvest, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.
Lighting the sky to night, the Strawberry Moon will start at the Horizon line just before 7:30 p.m. And after two hours after its arrival, the big moon will be looking beautifully big when it overheads at 8:41p.m. Bob Berman, Farmer’s Almanac Astronomy columnist writes, “Landing exactly on the solstice, this full moon doesn’t just rise as the Sun sets but is opposite the Sun in all other ways too.”
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“Having a full moon land smack on the solstice is a truly rare event. By landing exactly on the solstice, this Full Moon doesn’t just rise as the Sun sets but is opposite the Sun in all other ways too. The Sun gets super high so this Moon must be super-low. This forces its light through thicker air, which also tends to be humid this time of year, and the combination typically makes it amber colored. This is the true Honey Moon,” explains Bob Berman.
The full moon on June solstice will not occur again for 46 years, on June 21, 2062. So, do not miss this fascinating celestial event which rarely happens once a generation. These unusual and exciting moments will be live streamed to night. The Farmer’s Almanac joins Slooh, an online network of robotic telescopes to live-stream the strawberry moon with a complete commentary from Bob Berman and Slooh staff astronomer Paul Cox.
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You can watch on YouTube once the stream begins Monday night.
