Artist’s concept of a “strawberry” supermoon.
The Next Full Moon is the Strawberry Supermoon; the Mead, Honey, or Rose Moon; the Flower, Hot, Hoe, or Planting Moon; Vat Purnima; Poson Poya; and the LRO Moon.
Many cultures going far back in history have different names for the twelve full moons experienced each year. Often the names of the full moons sound literally colorful, such as the name “Strawberry Supermoon,” where it is easy to imagine something like in the artist’s concept above.
However, the names usually aren’t based on a color, but instead are often names for an activity that takes place at that time of year. For example, the name “Strawberry Moon” comes from the Native American Algonquin tribes that live in what is now the northeastern United States and the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in the region.
This Strawberry Moon is a special treat because it isn’t an ordinary full moon, but a supermoon. This happens when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth, presenting us with a larger, brighter full moon.
The next full moon will be Tuesday morning, June 14, 2022, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 7:52 a.m. EDT. This will be late Monday night for the International Date Line West time zone, Tuesday for many of the time zones on Earth, and Wednesday morning from the Chatham Standard Time zone eastward to the International Date Line. The Moon will appear full for about three days centered on this time, from Sunday evening through Wednesday morning.
The Moon is seen rising behind NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard atop a mobile launcher as it rolls out to Launch Complex 39B for the first time, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
One Moon, Many Names
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. The name comes from the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in the region.
An old European name for this full moon is the Mead or Honey Moon. Mead is a drink created by fermenting honey mixed with water and sometimes with fruits, spices, grains, or hops. In some countries, Mead is also called Honey Wine (though in others Honey Wine is made differently). Some writings suggest that the time around the end of June was when honey was ready for harvesting, which made this the “sweetest” Moon. The word “honeymoon” traces back to at least the 1500s in Europe. The tradition of calling the first month of marriage the “honeymoon” may be tied to this full moon because of the custom of marrying in June or because the “Honey Moon” is the “sweetest” Moon of the year. There doesn’t appear to be any evidence to support a 19th-century theory that the word entered English from the custom of gifting newlyweds mead for their first month of marriage.
The term “supermoon” was coined by the astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and refers to either a new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth.
What is a Supermoon?
Another European name for this full moon is the Rose Moon. Some sources indicate the name “Rose Moon” comes from the roses that bloom this time of year. Others indicate that the name comes from the color of the full Moon. The orbit of the Moon around the Earth is almost in the same plane as the orbit of the Earth around the Sun (only about 5 degrees off). On the summer solstice, the Sun appears highest in the sky for the year. Full moons are opposite the Sun, so a full moon near the summer solstice will be low in the sky. Particularly for Europe’s higher latitudes, when the full moon is low, it shines through more atmosphere, making it more likely to have a reddish color (for the same reasons that sunrises and sunsets are red). For the Washington, D.C. area, at 1:56 a.m. EDT on the morning of June 15, 2022, the full moon at its highest will reach only 23.3 degrees above the southern horizon, the lowest full moon of the year.
Other seasonal names for this full moon that I have found mentioned in various sources (sometimes with conflicting information about whether they are of European or Native American origin) are the Flower Moon, Hot Moon, Hoe Moon, and Planting Moon.
For Hindus, this is Vat Purnima. During the three days of this full moon, married women will show their love for their husbands by tying a ceremonial thread around a banyan tree. The celebration is based on the legend of Savitri and Satyavan.
For Buddhists, this is Poson Poya. The Poson holiday in Sri Lanka celebrates the introduction of Buddhism in 236 BCE.
Another tribe has also given a name to this full moon. This tribe is now scattered but mostly lived in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. This tribe’s language is primarily English, but with a liberal smattering of acronyms, arcane scientific and engineering terms, and Hawaiian phrases (cheerfully contributed by the former Deputy Project Manager). Comprised of people from all backgrounds, many of whom have gone on to join other tribes, this tribe was devoted to the study of the Moon. This tribe calls June’s full moon the LRO Moon, in honor of the spacecraft they launched toward the Moon on June 18, 2009. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is still orbiting the Moon providing insights about our nearest celestial neighbor, some of which help us understand our own planet.
The Strawberry Supermoon
This will be a supermoon. The term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and refers to either a new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth. Since we can’t see a new Moon (except when it passes in front of the Sun), what has caught the public’s attention in recent decades are full supermoons, as these are the biggest and brightest full moons of the year. Since perigee varies with each orbit, different publications use different thresholds for deciding which full Moons qualify as a supermoon, but all agree that in 2022 the full moons in June and July both qualify.
The Moon and Calendars
In many traditional lunar and lunisolar calendars, full moons fall near the middle of the lunar months. This full moon is in the middle of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, Sivan in the Hebrew calendar, and Dhu al-Qadah in the Islamic calendar (one of the four sacred months during which warfare is prohibited).
As usual, the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full Moon.
Here is a summary of celestial events between now and the full Moon after next (with times and angles based on the location of
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