A Super Strawberry Moon will brighten the sky Tuesday morning

Strawberry Supermoon will grace skies Tuesday morning

Jon Kelvey
Tuesday 14 June 2022 09:00 BST
Comments
A Super Strawberry Moon seen above the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. in 2013
A Super Strawberry Moon seen above the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. in 2013 (Nasa)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Early risers in the Americas will be greeted by a sweet Super Strawberry Moon Tuesday morning.

The Strawberry full moon, sometimes known as the Mead or Honey full Moon, will appear eight degrees above the horizon in the Southwestern sky around 7.52am EDT Tuesday Morning, or about 11.52am GMT. Tuesday morning will also tie Monday for the earliest sunrise of 2022, with the Sun peeking up at 5.42 am EDT, according to a Nasa blog.

A supermoon takes place when the full Moon coincides with the Moon coming within 90% of its closest approach to Earth, or perigee, according to another Nasa blog.

The Moon’s orbit oscillates between 363,300 kilometers and 405,500 kilometers from Earth every 27 days, but the full Moon doesn’t always line up with its closest approach to Earth. The next and only other supermoon of 2022 will be the Super Buck Moon on 13 July.

A supermoon appears about 17% larger and 30% brighter than a full Moon when the Moon is at its furthest point from Earth. The difference is not always noticeable to the naked eye, according to Nasa, but a supermoon can have real effects for life on Earth, such as generating higher than usual tides.

The term strawberry Moon comes from the Native American Algonquin tribe by way of the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, which began publishing the tribe’s names for various full Moons in 1930, according to a Nasa blog on supermoons. Other names for Tuesday’s full Moon include the old European term Honey or Mead Moon, Rose Moon, also European in origin, while Buddhists in Sri Lanka know it as Poson Poya.

Also visible Tuesday morning — and for much of the month of June — will be an arc of planets arrayed in order of their distance from the Sun.

Just before morning twilight begins at around 4.30am EDT, Mercury will rise above the East-Southeastern sky. Tracing an arc to the Southeast will also be visible Venus, then Mars, Jupiter and finally Saturn. The last time such a planetary alignment was visible was in 2004.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in