A Strawberry Moon Will Rise Up in the Sky This Month—Here's How to See It
Karl Hendon / Getty
Strawberries are an all-around favorite treat that can help inspire new dishes, especially when they are freshly picked each summer. The fruit also helped inspire the name of an out-of-this-world sight: A strawberry moon. It got this nickname because it rises up in the sky around the same time strawberries are harvested in North America each year, Live Science reports. The moon itself will peak at 8 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 14. If you don't have time to see it then, you can also catch it in bright form on Monday and Wednesday night.
The strawberry moon is also considered a supermoon, meaning that it's bigger and 16 percent brighter than a standard moon. It appears at the same time as the honey harvest in Europe each year, which NASA believes helped coin the term "honeymoon." (Those who traditionally got married in June tied the knot around the same time the sweet moon rose above in the sky.)
Related: A "Ring of Fire" Solar Eclipse Will Be Visible This June
However, the strawberry moon is its most common nickname, dating back to the 1930s. The Algonquin tribes from the northeastern area of the United States adopted this name for the supermoon, and it has remained common ever since.
After June 14, you won't have to wait long to catch the next supermoon. The Buck Moon will appear on Wednesday, July 13. This one happens about once every month when the sun, Earth, and moon align almost at an exact 180-degree angle. The only thing to keep an eye out for is Earth's shadow, as the moon's orbit is typically 5 degrees off from our planet, making the moon appear a bit higher or lower from our view.
Star- and moon-gazers can track the strawberry moon as it rises over Rome, Italy on June 14 at 3:15 p.m. EDT via the Virtual Telescope project's livestream.