Look up! Strawberry Supermoon to grace night skies

Skywatchers will get a chance to see the 'Strawberry Supermoon' this week!

Jun 13, 2022, 5:27 PM

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Updated 927 days ago

Look up! Strawberry Supermoon to grace night skies

A strawberry ‘supermoon’ will grace the night sky this week, according to NASA.

What is a supermoon?

From NASA:

“The term "supermoon" was coined by the astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and refers to either a new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth.”

That’s cool, but what does it have to do with strawberries?

The full moons have many different names and are based on a variety of factors. In this case, the ‘strawberry’ supermoon has to do with the timing of the strawberry harvest in the Northeast.

According to NASA:

“In the 1930s the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing Native American names for full moons. According to this Almanac, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northeastern United States called this the Strawberry Moon. The name comes from the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in the region.”

When can I see it?

The full moon will take place Tuesday morning (June 14), then it will be at its perigee less than 12 hours later.

From NASA:

“As mentioned above, the next full moon will be Tuesday morning, June 14, 2022, at 7:52 a.m. EDT. Less than 12 hours later, at 7:24 p.m., the Moon will be at perigee, its closest to the Earth for this orbit. This full moon is near enough to perigee to be a supermoon.

With the Moon appearing full from Sunday night through Wednesday morning, the full moon on Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning, June 14 to 15, 2022, will be the lowest full moon of the year, reaching only 23.3 degrees above the horizon Wednesday morning at 1:56 a.m. EDT.”

What will the weather be like?

For the tri-state area we should be looking at mostly clear skies. You can get the full weather report here.