Tag: summer solstice

Strawberry moon and summer solstice

 

Full moon (J Jacobs photo)
Full moon (J Jacobs photo)

If you noticed the moon looks brighter, closer and fuller even on June 19, two days before it’s full, you are right.

The June full moon will appear at 8:08 p.m. CT June 21, 2024 and will look extra-large because it is the lowest full moon we have seen in years. It’s just an illusion.

  Also, because it is low it will appear more reddish orange due to the atmosphere and not because it is called the Strawberry Moon. That name recognizes the fruit that is often ripe about the same mid-June time.  Other names are rose moon, honey moon, mead moon, berries ripen moon, planting moon and green corn moon. 

After sunset, look southeast to see it rise over the horizon. For the time it rises locally see Full Moon Calculator.

In addition, the June moon is special this year because it happens at the same time as the summer solstice, when we in the northern hemisphere experience the longest day. 

For more information visit Old Farmer’s Almanac and Time and Date and June Solstice 2024: Shortest & Longest Day of the Year (timeanddate.com)

When summer starts

NASA graphic of Summer Solstice I(Photo courtesy of NASA.Gov
NASA graphic of June/December Solstice (Photo courtesy of NASA.Gov)

When do you think summer starts? Is it when school ends or weather turns warm enough to swim outdoors? Or it could be when your local meteorologist announces astronomical summer.

In the Northern Hemisphere the Summer (June) Solstice is June 21 in the year 2023. 

Take advantage of the June Solstice, also called the Summer Solstice. It is the longest day and shortest night and this year. So, there is more daylight to work in the yard, take long walks, eat dinner out on the patio or just enjoy summer. Just remember to use sunscreen.

The Old Farmers’ Almanac says the actual solstice moment comes at 10:58 a.m. EDT.

For its meaning, think Latin sol for sun and sistere for standing still. IKt certainly stands still in the Arctic Circle which won’t get dark because the sun won’t set there. Think Midnight Sun.

Earth/Sky, The Farmer’s Almanac and Space explain the long day relates to the sun’s angle to the Equator and is the farthest north of the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere.

NASA explains the long day is due to the tilt of the Earth and has a graphic showing the angle. 

Of course, such a momentous time of year has related folklore. Most of those events come under the title Midsummer. 

That may sound as a misnomer, but the June Solstice marking the beginning of the season is a starting point that is usually marked a few days later with Midsummer celebrations. It’s when many northern cultures such as Sweden, Finland and Ireland historically celebrated the time with rituals, visits to Stonehenge, and religious occasions. 

Maybe hold your own Midsummer celebration. Check Travel Sweden for how they do it and their Midsummer dates.