Night sky observers are being treated this week to a view of a red-tinted full moon — known in June as a “strawberry moon” — a phenomenon that occurs when the moon sits low on the Southern Horizon.
This summer, the reddish color is particularly pronounced because the moon is sitting at the lowest position it will reach for about 19 years.
The strawberry moon’s colorful hues were visible Tuesday night, and it reached its brightest point Wednesday around 4 a.m. Eastern time.
Here’s what it looked like:
Each month’s full moon has a name.
According to folklore, the name “strawberry moon” came from Algonquin Native American tribes to commemorate strawberry gathering season. Another name for the full moon in June is “rose moon,” which may have come from Europe.
“Most of the traditional names we use seem to come from Native American usage, but some are clearly European in origin, like the one in December, called ‘the moon before yule,’ a reference to Christmas,” said James Lattis, a historian of astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The moon will not sit this low on the Southern Horizon again for about 19 years.
Summer full moons are always low relative to winter full moons in the Northern Hemisphere, and therefore are more reddish in color, Dr. Lattis said. That’s because viewing the moon through the atmosphere gives it a reddish hue, much like the colors visible during a sunrise or sunset, he said.
“If one looks straight up into the sky, there’s less atmosphere,” he said. “If you’re looking through the horizon, you’re looking through the most atmosphere.”
The strawberry moon will still be “visually full” for observers on Wednesday night.
Dr. Lattis said that he had viewed the moon on Tuesday night in Wisconsin, and that it was notable for the pinkish hue it had from smoke in the air from wildfires. He said the sight may not be as dramatic elsewhere.
“I hate to discourage anybody from going out and looking at the moon — it’s a wonderful thing to do, and a lot of times, if you don’t give somebody a reason, they’ll never do it,” he said. “But it’s just another full moon.”
