A full moon will be visible across the ¶¶Òõh sky Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, and while this year's coincides with a special astronomical event, it won't look like anything spectacular to the human eye.Â
Dubbed the Strawberry Moon, June's full moon will ride lower in the sky than usual because of what scientists call a "major lunar standstill," according to Deborah Byrd, editor-in-chief of EarthSky, a science media outlet.Â
"It's an extra special full moon," Byrd said in a video published on Saturday. "It'll take the lowest path across our sky since 2006."
What makes this full moon special?
The moon rides low in the Northern Hemisphere's sky every summer, just like the sun takes a low path each winter. But Byrd said the moon's usual low hanging path this year is combining with a major lunar standstill, which occurs about every 19 years.Â
A lunar standstill is similar to a solstice, when the sun reaches its maximum or minimum angular distance north or south from the equator, which is marked by the longest and shortest days of the year.
"Lunar standstills, or lunistices, are when the moon stands still, in terms of it's northern or southernmost extremes in its rising points," Byrd said. "And where it rises on the horizon of course effects the moon's path across our sky."
Byrd said much of what happens in the night sky occurs on a cycle, and this cycle occurs every 18.6 years because the moon's orbit is being slowly dragged around, largely due to the gravitational pull of the sun.Â
So will the moon look bigger than normal?
Colin Turley, an instructor with LSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy, said that while the moon will be taking a lower path in the sky, that doesn't mean it's closer to Earth than usual.Â
In fact, Turley said the moon will be farther from Earth than normal Tuesday night. It just passed apogee, it's farthest point from Earth, early on June 7.Â
"So the moon will be smaller in the sky than normal," Turley said. "So basically it's the opposite of a supermoon."Â
The distance of the moon from Earth doesn't affect how far north or south it is, Turley said, and only its distance really impacts how big or small it appears in the sky.Â
While the moon does appear larger to the human eye while it's rising close to the horizon, he said that's really just an optical illusion. Â
"It's part of the way our brains perceive depth and distance," he said.Â
Why is it called the Strawberry Moon?
While "Strawberry Moon" evokes an image of a full moon that glows reddish in color, the nickname has nothing to do with the moon's appearance.Â
Each of the year's dozen or so full moons have historic nicknames that stem from efforts to track the seasons, June's full moon, typically the last of spring or first of summer, coincides with berry harvesting season.Â
Other moon names this year include the Wolf, Flower and Hunter moons, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac.Â
When to see the full moonÂ
June's full moon will reach peak illumination Wednesday at 2:44 a.m. in ¶¶Òõh, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac and EarthSky, but it will still be visible Tuesday night.
