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Jan Harris
Deputy Group Editor
2:30 PM 23rd June 2021
lifestyle

Will The Strawberry Moon Be Pink?

 
Image by Radovan Zierik from Pixabay
Image by Radovan Zierik from Pixabay
The June full moon rises on Thursday 24 June this year and is the last supermoon of 2021. It gets the name of Strawberry Moon from the Native Americans because of the short season for harvesting wild strawberries in the north-eastern United States.

Other names are: Rose Moon because it sometimes has a pink tinge, Hot Moon as it is the beginning of summer and Mead Moon was the Anglo-Saxon name because it was the time for mowing the meadows.

Around every 20 years, the Strawberry Moon coincides with the Summer Solstice, which is either on 20, 21 or 22 June.

Wild strawberries - Image by Emilian Robert Vicol from Pixabay
Wild strawberries - Image by Emilian Robert Vicol from Pixabay
The myth that June’s full moon gets its name from the fact that it will have a pinkish tinge to it is unfortunately not true. Though according to NASA as the moon will be low in the sky it sometimes gives the moon a rose colour, caused by atmospheric effects.

There are a total of 12 full moon phases during the annual lunar cycle plus the occasional Blue Moon and each full moon has a unique name tied to the changing seasons, behaviour of the plants, animals, or weather during that month and reflects the landscape around us.

Supermoons in 2021

28 March – Super Worm Moon
27 April – Super Pink Moon
26 May – Super Flower Moon
24 June – Super Strawberry Moon


What is a Supermoon?

Image by Roger Purdie from Pixabay
Image by Roger Purdie from Pixabay
A supermoon is when you look up at the night sky and the full moon looks so close you feel as if you could almost touch it, although sometimes the difference is hard to spot with the naked eye.

This is called a moon illusion as the full moon appears much larger when it rises behind a distant object on the horizon.

When the moon is closest to the earth a supermoon occurs. A supermoon will appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. A supermoon looks especially large when rising and setting.

The moon will be 30,000 miles closer than usual. It sounds a lot, but the average distance between the earth and moon is 238,900 miles, so it’s not that huge a difference.

If you go outside on the night of a full supermoon you should actually notice that it is exceptionally bright.

According to the US space agency the term supermoon was first used back in 1979 and is now a quite common term.

There are a total of 12 full moon phases during the annual lunar cycle plus the occasional Blue Moon and each full moon has a unique name.

Full Moons in 2021

photo by Rob Harris
photo by Rob Harris
Wolf Moon - January 28
Snow Moon - February 27
Worm Moon - March 28
Pink Moon - April 26
Flower Moon - May 26
Strawberry Moon - June 24
Buck Moon - July 24
Sturgeon Moon - August 22
Harvest Moon - September 20
Hunter's Moon - October 20
Beaver Moon - November 19
Cold Moon - December 19


The names given to the full moons during the year are derived from the North American traditions. Many of these ancient moon names have been given based on the behaviour of the plants, animals, or weather during that month.

It is said that they were the names given by Native American tribes and included into our modern calendar. However the full moon names we now use also have Anglo-Saxon and Germanic roots.

The best time to see the supermoon in the UK will be in the evening after sunset as that is when the moon is closest to the earth. So if the sky remains clear you should be able to see the Strawberry moon for a couple of nights either side of the 24 June.

The next full moon will rise on Saturday 24 July and is the Buck Moon