A full moon occurs about once a month when the sun, Earth and moon line up on an invisible 180-degree line. The moon's orbit is about 5 degrees different from Earth's, so it's usually slightly higher or lower than Earth's shadow, allowing sunlight to shine on the side facing Earth.
The full moon in June or popularly known as the Strawberry Moon will shine in Earth's sky on Tuesday (14 June). The moon will peak around 08:00 EDT on Tuesday, but will also appear bright and full on Monday and Wednesday evenings.
As the name suggests, this month coincides with the summer strawberry harvest in North America. According to the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which began publishing Native American moon names in the 1930s, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northeastern United States gave full moon this delectable moniker; Modern culture has adopted the name.
Other June nicknames include the Mead Moon or Honey Moon, because the moon's appearance coincides with the honey harvest in Europe, according to NASA. The term "honeymoon," now meaning a post-wedding vacation, may stem from the long-standing custom of getting married in June, while the "sweetest" month of the year is rising overhead, NASA .
Sweet or not, June's full moon will appear bigger and brighter than usual. That's because June's full moon will be the first of two successive supermoons, or full moons that orbit within 90% of their closest approach to Earth — a point known as perigee in astronomy. Supermoons can appear larger and up to 16% brighter in the sky than the average full moon, according to timeanddate.com.
The next supermoon, also called Buck Moon, will appear on Wednesday, July 13.
A full moon occurs about once a month when the sun, Earth and moon line up on an invisible 180-degree line. The moon's orbit is about 5 degrees different from Earth's, so it's usually slightly higher or lower than Earth's shadow, allowing sunlight to shine on the side facing Earth.
The moon typically sits at perigee for two to five lunar cycles, according to London's Natural History Museum. That means a year usually contains between two and five supermoons.