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The month of June will end with two simultaneous celestial events: the Strawberry moon, and the Saturn inversion. Both are expected to take place around the same time, and can be spotted side-by-side over a few days. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has listed the events among those to spot for June 2018.
These events, though, may be visible only in North America and some Pacific regions, with the Strawberry moon expected exclusively around the mid-west regions of the United States.
The Moon will be full over the night of June 28, as it reaches its furthest point in its orbit around the Earth. On this day, the moon will appear smaller than it is, and be visible through a shorter arc. As this happens, the Moon will cast a smaller shadow on the Earth, and cause light having longer wavelengths to reflect off the surface.
Predominantly, stargazers can expect a combination of green and red colours to be cast on the Moon. While the early phase of the event will see the Moon in hues of red, it could eventually turn yellow, as its distance from the Earth decreases.
Also read: Blood moon on July 27: Here’s a recap of all the supermoons in 2018
The phenomenon is called ‘Strawberry moon’, because the Old Farmers Almanac says the Alongquin tribes, based around New England and Lake Superior in the US, marked the phenomenon in concurrence with the strawberry harvest season. They used full moons, rather than the Julian or Gregorian calendar, to mark different seasons of the year. This calendar refers to next month’s blood moon as the ‘Buck moon’.
This phenomena refers to a phase of Saturn’s revolution around the Sun, where the ringed planet and the Sun are in opposite directions with respect to the Earth. At the same time, Saturn also makes its closest approach to the Earth, and remains most visible in the night sky. This will allow stargazers to also get a rare peek at Saturn’s rings, as the planet will appear brighter than usual. NASA has also said that some of Saturn’s moons could be visible through a telescope.
According to Accuweather, Saturn will reach its closest point of opposition at 9pm EDT (6.30am IST). The Strawberry moon, meanwhile, can be expected to be seen from 1am EDT on June 28, which will be 10.30am IST. This will give experts a rare view of both phenomena unfolding beside each other.
