Update, June 15: AP Photos: Supermoon delights skygazers around the globe
Heads up: A strawberry supermoon will illuminate the sky tonight.
A supermoon occurs when the moon's orbit is closest to Earth at the same time the moon is full, NASA reminds us. Quick points from the NASA Moon guide:
- At 7:24 p.m. June 14, the moon will be at perigee (closest to Earth).
- This will be the lowest full moon of 2022, reach only 23.3 degrees above the horizon Wednesday morning at 1:56 a.m.
- The rising moon will appear 3 degrees above the southeastern horizon.
- Sunset in New Hampshire will be about 8:23 p.m. on June 14.
The Moon is at its brightest and largest 🌕
— NASA (@NASA) June 13, 2022
Watch the sky at 7:52am ET (11:52 UTC) on June 14 to gaze upon the Strawberry supermoon—when the Moon is both in its full phase and near perigee, or its closest point in orbit around Earth.
Read our Moon guide: https://t.co/K0xnkQwDMc pic.twitter.com/HfbIUAgprR
OK, so why is this called the strawberry supermoon?
Per 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."
It's based on the strawberry harvest season.
One more fact from NASA: The term "supermoon" comes from astrologer Richard Nolle, who in 1979 used it to refer to the new or full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90% of perigee.
