Here's how you can watch the luminous 'Strawberry Supermoon' this Thursday
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How you can watch the luminous 'Strawberry Supermoon' this Thursday: Here are some facts, the significance of the event, and the secret behind its name
Space enthusiasts and Moon idolators have a lot to look forward to this week with the rise of “Super Strawberry Moon”.
June’s full Moon will be this year’s brightest. Although more orangey than red, the Strawberry Moon will mesmerise all explorers alike for our natural satellite will be placed extremely low in the sky. If you love star-gazing and regularly indulge in Moon-ogling, you cannot afford to miss the last supermoon of this year.
What's so special about Strawberry Supermoon?
During the event, the Moon will be closest to Earth in its orbit. Even then, the natural satellite would still be farther off than the last three full moons, NASA claims.
The upcoming supermoon does not don the seedy characterises of a strawberry and was named so by Algonquin tribes of North America who linked its emergence to the berry’s picking season.
The Strawberry Moon is known by other names like “hot moon”, “rose moon” and “honey moon”. In fact, many believe that the word honeymoon originated from this full moon cycle of the year, during which the most number of weddings are reported.
When can I watch Strawberry Supermoon?
Thursday's Strawberry Moon will attain peak illumination at 2:40 pm ET/12:10 am IST. Even then, it will only become visible in its full glory after appearing above the horizon. To casual watchers, it should appear for days in advance and for many days to follow. If you're unable to watch it due to weather disturbances, a live feed of the event over Rome will be aired by The Virtual Telescope Project at 3 pm ET/12:30 am IST here.
What happens during a full moon?
During a full moon, the Sun, the Earth and the Moon align at 180 degrees. But the Moon’s orbit is 5 degrees off the plane of Earth’s orbit. Due to this, the Moon’s shadow is always a little lower or higher than the Earth when they align.
Even though this supermoon can’t hold a candle to May’s “blood red supermoon”, it is still an event of significance for it marks the last such event this year.
An astrologer coined the term “supermoon” in 1979 to refer to moon cycles that are closer than usual to Earth when they’re full. According to NASA, super moons are 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than regular full moons.
Don't forget to mark your calendar for this special event!