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When can you see the June Super Moon at its peak




Stargazers and night sky watchers should be in for a lunar treat today (Tuesday), when June's Full Super Moon reaches its peak.

The Full Moon is expected to ‘peak’ in the UK on Tuesday, June 14, at 12.51pm BST and will appear 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than a typical full moon.

While a Full Moon occurring during daylight hours might seem unusual, this is the exact moment when the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of the Earth, which can happen at any time of the day or night. This is known as a ‘syzygy’ of the Sun-Earth-Moon system.

June Super Strawberry Moon
June Super Strawberry Moon

Technically, the Super Strawberry Moon only lasts for a brief moment, but to the naked eye it will appear full for about three days around the peak time of June 14, so there will be plenty of chances to catch a glimpse of the astronomical spectacle.

Due to an optical illusion, the Moon will likely appear much larger when it’s near the horizon, so the best views will be just after moonrise or before moonset.

Tonight (Tuesday) the Moon will rise in the south east at 10.02pm and will reach its closest point, the perigee at 23 minutes past midnight, in the early hours of June 15.

At its closest point, the Moon will be 357,435km away from the Earth, which is the closest perigee of the year. After this, the Moon will start to get further away again.

It won't be strawberry-coloured, but will still be a brightly shining orb in the sky and as clear skies are forecast it should be quite a sight.

As with other Full Moon names, 'Strawberry' was given to June's Moon by Native Americans.

According to NASA: “The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published Indian names for the full Moons in the 1930s.

"According to this almanac, the full Moon in June or the last full Moon of spring is known as the Strawberry Moon, a name universal to just about every Algonquin tribe.

"The name comes from the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in north eastern North America.”

Don't forget to send in your photographs of June's Strawberry Full Moon tonewsdesk@newburynews.co.uk to add to our cosmic gallery.



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