When it comes to astronomy, there are a lot of things that can be seen in the sky. Some can be experienced by the naked eye, while some require a special kind of equipment. As for those which can be seen under the naked eye, there are a lot of things that can’t be explained. Science has yet to reach those boundaries and they are defined as something unnatural. Something that is from the magical world. Or something sent by God or gods themselves. It could be a curse or it could be a blessing. As for selenophiles, these events occur quite often. Selenophiles are those who are in love with the beauty of the moon. A strange phenomenon is going to occur yet again and this would be another big phenomenon that has baffled science over the years. The fourth on the list that we are going to experience would be the Strawberry moon.
Ancient Japanese legends say that the moon itself is a sign of the world in chaos. Reading this sentence does feel somewhat right this time. But as legends describe, it is the wrath of the moon princess that would cause the doom of the world. Japanese people believed that the moon itself was made by a legendary warrior, who gave up on his love life, to find solitude in the sky. While the Japanese believe the Strawberry Moon would be the start of a calamity to befall on the earth, the ancient Chinese scrolls tell us something way different. When the great shift of powers happened in China way before the birth of Christ, the first sightings of this moon were seen. The dynasty that ruled the Chinese people after were much more benevolent and they helped China to grow rather than exploiting the resources and making themselves rich.
Thus, this moon was attributed to change. A good change. A beacon of hope. Whether it has a darker meaning to it, or it means a good change is something that should be left with historians and philosophers to debate upon. As for this era, anything and everything can be defined by science. This year, we have seen the four great celestial events. All these events were majorly great and there have been many instances in the past. Firstly, we saw the supermoon way back at the start of this year. Then, to mark the start of a new season, we saw the blood moon. After the blood moon, we saw the two great eclipses. Both of these have significant importance in philosophy and world history. The first one was the total lunar eclipse where the night was clouded in darkness. The second was during bright daylight where the ring of fire, the total solar eclipse occurred.
Both of these eclipses marked the two upcoming supermoons, the strawberry moon, and the black moon. The strawberry moon could be seen in the sky during the start of July, but this time, due to the shift it would happen on June 24. As for the next supermoon, it would be seen somewhere around August, this moon is termed as the black moon. As for the strawberry moon which would be seen on June 24, it would mark the entry of the moon into the closest orbit. This moon would be the first full moon to happen after the solstice. The summer solstice would now come to an end by the appearance of this moon. It would be one of the biggest moons to be seen from the earth due to its proximity. its full phase would mark the beginning of the start of another solstice. Although this moon would be one of the biggest moons, it is still not classified to be called a supermoon.
Many celestial experts believe that this moon is yet not to be classified as a supermoon because it would still not be big enough. The one that we saw in May was the biggest moon and which is termed a supermoon, and the one that we would see in June would just be a marking for the start of the summer season. The strawberry moon is regarded as the last full moon. This full moon would be the last of its kind for the spring season. That’s why we saw that the summer season already started on Monday for the southern hemisphere. While the southern hemisphere has just started to enter into the summer season, there are still traces of the spring season left in some parts of the world. The people to the north side of the equator saw the longest day of the year.
Although the strawberry moon isn’t termed as a supermoon by many celestial experts, it has been recorded that the event that would happen this year comes once in 20 years. The reason behind this is the mark of the summer solstice. The summer solstice colliding with the strawberry moon is something that is considered a rare event. Although the months from the Gregorian calendar which is used in most parts of the world follow the sun, the moon follows quite a different path as compared to its orbit. The moon takes around 29 to 30 days to complete one revolution around the earth. And due to the earth’s shadow that falls upon the moon, we see the phases as such. However, these phases are seen every month. If you follow the Arabian calendar you would get to know the phases of the moon.
In one month, the start from the waxing phase till the full moon followed by the waning face till the new moon appears. When it comes to the strawberry moon, since it is not a supermoon and it is such a rare event, it would be seen for more than a day. This is one of the primary reasons why this phenomenon would be so unique. This year also marks the appearance of four moons. Every year, you can count three full moons till the summer solstice. But this year there will be four. Even if you miss the event on Wednesday, it would still happen till Saturday so you don’t need to be worried about that. Moreover, scientists have confirmed that this moon would be 224,662 miles from the earth. This is by far the closest to the earth as compared to other supermoons that happened this year. This is because the moon would be in the perigee position which is the closest to the earth’s orbit.
Plus, there is one more theory that is currently being presented. It is being said that although it would be the strawberry moon, it won’t be with the familiar pink hue that would surround it. In fact, unlike the one that we saw in May, it won’t be the same. There could be many reasons as to why this would happen, but the primary reason is due to the shift in the atmosphere. It has been confirmed that the moon would have a very light red hue but it would be quite distinguishable and you could see it clearly. Moreover, you don’t even need to venture out to see it as you can see it from your backyard itself. If anyone were to compare this moon with the supermoon that was seen in May, they would themselves see the difference in size, shape, and colour. Although it would be perfectly round there would be some minor change.
Also if we were to compare this moon with the other full moons, we would see a slight change in size. The strawberry moon is about 8-15% bigger in size with respect to the full moon. But, this minor difference cannot be recognized by the common man because without the ability to keep the supermoon and the strawberry moon side by side, it would be really difficult to compare. As mentioned above, the strawberry moon holds much importance in the philosophical world. It is truly debatable as to what it means. But as for the name itself, it has a very happy meaning. The ancient Americans that resided in America way before the colonization process noticed that this moon would mark the ripening of strawberries and the hatching of birds.
They believed that gods used to nod at us through the shades of the moon so that we can be prepared for our own agricultural seasons. However, the strawberry moon has many different names including grape corn moon, spring moon, blooming moon, and hatching moon. Although many beautiful celestial events have happened till now, we have seen three supermoons as well as two eclipses. However, the strawberry moon isn’t the last one. We would see more of them in the upcoming months. The seasonal blue moon or the black moon would appear late in August while there would be two more eclipses to be seen in the months of November and December. We would also see two more pairs of supermoons in November too. As for the eclipse in December, you need to travel to Antarctica to watch the same.