Space
Strawberry Moon, Summer Solstice Coincide For The First Time In 40 Years
Sam D
First Posted: Jun 20, 2016 07:28 AM EDT
The summer solstice this year will be occurring simultaneously with a rare strawberry moon today, a phenomenon that last took place in 1967. However, unlike its name, the moon will not have a red or pink appearance, though it may glow with an amber hue.
"Having a full moon land smack on the solstice is a truly rare event," said astronomer Bob Mernan, from Farmer's Almanac. "By landing exactly on the solstice, this full moon does not 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".
Incidentally, strawberry moon was named so by the North America's Algonquin tribes that believed June's full moon signaled the start of the strawberry picking season. Honey Moon, Hot Moon and Rose Moon are some of the other names for the occurrence. The solstice takes place when the semi-axis's tilt of the Earth, in either northern or southern hemispheres, leans the most toward the Sun. After tonight, the days will become shorter in the northern hemisphere. Although there is no real significance of a strawberry moon and solstice occurring simultaneously, apart from an interesting astronomical alignment, it still has got astrologers in a frenzy of excitement.
It is being speculated that over 25,000 people will gather at the prehistoric site of Stonehenge in UK's Wiltshire to celebrate the solstice. The day is revered by pagans all over the globe. The last instance of the strawberry moon coinciding with the summer solstice took place on June 22 1967, and the next such phenomenon will reportedly take place only on June 21, 2062.
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First Posted: Jun 20, 2016 07:28 AM EDT
The summer solstice this year will be occurring simultaneously with a rare strawberry moon today, a phenomenon that last took place in 1967. However, unlike its name, the moon will not have a red or pink appearance, though it may glow with an amber hue.
"Having a full moon land smack on the solstice is a truly rare event," said astronomer Bob Mernan, from Farmer's Almanac. "By landing exactly on the solstice, this full moon does not 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".
Incidentally, strawberry moon was named so by the North America's Algonquin tribes that believed June's full moon signaled the start of the strawberry picking season. Honey Moon, Hot Moon and Rose Moon are some of the other names for the occurrence. The solstice takes place when the semi-axis's tilt of the Earth, in either northern or southern hemispheres, leans the most toward the Sun. After tonight, the days will become shorter in the northern hemisphere. Although there is no real significance of a strawberry moon and solstice occurring simultaneously, apart from an interesting astronomical alignment, it still has got astrologers in a frenzy of excitement.
It is being speculated that over 25,000 people will gather at the prehistoric site of Stonehenge in UK's Wiltshire to celebrate the solstice. The day is revered by pagans all over the globe. The last instance of the strawberry moon coinciding with the summer solstice took place on June 22 1967, and the next such phenomenon will reportedly take place only on June 21, 2062.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone