Strawberry Moon 2.0
For this
month’s installment of the “Moons of the Year” series, I present “Strawberry
Moon 2.0”
The moon for the month of June is known
as the Strawberry Moon. The moon will enter its full phase on June 9, 2017.
Dubbed by the Algonquin tribe of indigenous
peoples in the U.S., the name for the moon this month is named for the season
for picking strawberries.
The website “What’s Your Sign” had this
to say regarding the Strawberry Moon:
“June
is the picking time for strawberries, when their at their ripest and fullest.
Picking by moonlight is said to honor the crops, and insure bigger bounty next
picking season.”
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the
June moon is known as the Rose Moon and as the Honey Moon in European
countries. If the moon hovers close to the horizon line, the moon can take on
an amber or honey colored hue.
With the names of the Strawberry Moon and
the Rose Moon, it is logical to assume that the moon would have a pink or
reddish tint during the month of June. This is not necessarily true. However,
the website Space.com explains that this can actually happen, and how it is
possible:
“…when
the moon is close to the horizon, it also takes on a reddish tint, and in
Europe,
the June full moon is sometimes known as the "Rose Moon."
This year’s Strawberry Moon will be a
mini moon, meaning a moon that appears smaller than normal. A mini moon is rare;
they only occur once a year. The website Space.com explains the phenomenon of a
mini moon:
“A
minimoon refers to a full moon that is at or near apogee, the point in the
satellite's orbit where it is farthest from Earth. This is essentially the
opposite of a supermoon, which refers to a full moon that occurs at perigee, or
the point where the moon is closest to Earth.”
In June of 2016 I wrote about the
Strawberry Moon. That blog post is what prompted my desire to begin this
series, to write about the full moons of each month, their names, and the
stories and history behind them.
The website Space.com details the peak
hours and locations to see the full moon:
On
Friday, June 9, at 9:09 a.m. EDT (1309 GMT), the minimoon will reach its
fullest phase. At this time, the natural satellite will be below the horizon
for observers in the continental U.S., but early risers in Hawaii and parts of
Alaska will have a chance to see the minimoon at its fullest….The peak full
moon will be above the horizon in most of Asia and all of Australia. But
skywatchers in Europe, along with most viewers in the U.S., will have to catch
a glimpse of the almost-full moon on the evenings before and after the peak. To
the casual observer, the moon will appear just as full between Thursday and
Saturday.
The website Slooh.com will be streaming
the fullness of the moon on its website:
Many communities around the United States
are having community festivals and fairs around the time of the Strawberry
Moon. Simply do a search in any search engine online to find events near you.
However you spend the weekend, I hope the
strawberry moon brings love and light, sweetness and goodness, and happiness and prosperity into your
life.
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