Cool Moon Facts by Whip

Real astronomy and dated history, with sources. Documented traditions and folklore. Modern lunar astrology · symbolic, not predictive.

June

Strawberry Moon

Named for a harvest, not a colour: wild strawberries in northeastern North America ripen in a short window in June. But the colour version is not quite wrong either, and for a real reason. A full moon sits opposite the Sun, so in June — when the Sun is at its highest — the full moon is at its lowest of the year for northern observers. A low moon is seen through far more atmosphere, which scatters the blue out of it, so June full moons genuinely do tend to come up amber or rose-coloured.

Where the name comes from

Rose Moon and Honey Moon are European names for the same month and are probably about that colour rather than about fruit. The strawberry attribution is North American and specific. Two traditions, the same low orange moon, different explanations — and only one of them is astronomy.

Also called Rose Moon, Honey Moon.

Old Farmer's Almanac; the low-June-moon geometry from Meeus ch. 13

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