The month of June will end with two simultaneous celestial events: the Strawberry moon, and the Saturn inversion. Both are expected to take place around the same time, and can be spotted side-by-side over a few days. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has listed the events among those to spot for June 2018.
These events, though, may be visible only in North America and some Pacific regions, with the Strawberry moon expected exclusively around the mid-west regions of the United States.
Strawberry moon
The Moon will be full over the night of June 28, as it reaches its furthest point in its orbit around the Earth. On this day, the moon will appear smaller than it is, and be visible through a shorter arc. As this happens, the Moon will cast a smaller shadow on the Earth, and cause light having longer wavelengths to reflect off the surface.
Predominantly, stargazers can expect a combination of green and red colours to be cast on the Moon. While the early phase of the event will see the Moon in hues of red, it could eventually turn yellow, as its distance from the Earth decreases.
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The phenomenon is called ‘Strawberry moon’, because the Old Farmers Almanac says the Alongquin tribes, based around New England and Lake Superior in the US, marked the phenomenon in concurrence with the strawberry harvest season. They used full moons, rather than the Julian or Gregorian calendar, to mark different seasons of the year.