The Full Moon of June: A Special Solstice Strawberry Moon! (2024)

Look up! The Strawberry Moon on June 21 is the lowest full Moon in many years. What does this mean? Expect a beautiful full Moon that appears larger and more colorful than usual. Will it be strawberry red? Learn more about this unusual fullMoon.

When to See the Full Moon in June2024

This year, the Full Moon coincides with the summer solstice! On the evening of June 21 —just after sunset—look towards the southeast to watch the full Moon rise gently above the horizon. June’s full Moonwill reachpeak illumination at 9:08 P.M. Eastern Time. See the Full Moon Calculator for your local time.

Why the Solstice Moon isSpecial

This is a special full Moon, highlighted in the 2024 astronomical highlights.

The June Moon begins its Moon Phase cycle as the “New Moon” on June 6. Then, night after night, the hair-thin crescent will grow fatter until it waxes all the way to its first-quarter phase on the 14th. That’s when it will hover due south on the meridian at sunset and offer binocular and telescope owners perfectly shadowed lunar terrain.

After that, meaning in these next two weeks, the Moon enters its waxing gibbous phase, the odd football shape that still boasts ideal highlighting of lunar features since sunlight continues to strike the Moon’s surface at a sharp, shadow-casting angle. But each night now, the Sun will be higher up in the lunar sky, which makes our nearest neighbor reflect sunlight to us more and more intensely.

Tuesday, June 18, is a sort of turning point in the moonlight department. Like a highway sign brightly aglow when reflecting a car’s headlights straight back at it, the Moon starts optimally reflecting sunlight 2 ½ days before it’s Full. That’s Tuesday. Quite suddenly, it then explosivelybrightens.

The first-quarter phase Moon on the 14th will give us only wimpy light. The Full Moon is ten times brighter than this “half Moon.” But this brilliance starts rapidly increasing Tuesday night, and then for nearly a week, people in rural regions can see spring’s foliage by moonlight alone. More than that, the Moon is then bright enough to bring outcolors.

But our present focus is on the strangeness of this month’s Full Moon, which happens because it lands so soon after the summersolstice.

The Solstice Full Moon owes its strangeness to yet another little-known lunar reality: the Full Moon is opposite the Sun in all respects. It rises just as the Sun is setting, and it sets when the Sun rises. At midnight, when the sun is lowest down, the full Moon is highestup.

Since the 2024 June full Moon happens on the solstice, the very day the Sun is absolutely at its highest of the year, this month’s full Moon on the 21st is the very lowest full Moon, indeed, the lowest we’ve seen in years. Just look at it! Because the Moon is so low, it will appear bigger than ever. This is called the “Moon Illusion.”

Since we’re in daylight time, the middle of the night is now 1 AM, so check out the full moon when it’s at its loftiest position of the night. It’s barely up at all! From places like Fairbanks and Rekyavik, this Full Moon won’t even clear their horizon. It won’t rise at all. For them, June will simply have no full Moon.

So we’ve got a paradox coming. The Full Moon usually is our brightest night. But this month, it ascends so little that the thick horizon air will give it an orange-red hue and subdue its light. Moreover, its extreme southerly position will keep it aloft for a few short hours, leaving that night mostly black. Don’t miss this extra-low, extra-big, colorful full Moon for a few precioushours.

Why Is It Called the StrawberryMoon?

The full Moon names used byThe Old Farmer’s Almanaccome from many places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Historically, names for the full or new Moons were used to track the seasons. Today, we think of Moon names as “nicknames” fortheMoon.

June’s full Moon—typically the last full Moon of spring or the first of summer—has traditionally been called the Strawberry Moon. While strawberries certainly are a reddish-pink color and are roundish in shape, the origin of the name“Strawberry Moon” has nothing to do with the Moon’s hue or appearance, despite the evocative imagery (shown in the artist rendering below). A Moon usually appears reddish when it’s close to the horizon because the light rays must pass through the densest layers of theatmosphere.

This “Strawberry Moon” namehasbeen used by Native American Algonquian tribes that live in the northeastern United States as well as the Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples to mark the ripening of“June-bearing” strawberries that are ready to be gathered. The Haida term Berries Ripen Moonreflects this as well. As flowers bloom and early fruit ripens, June is a time of great abundance formany.

Alternative June MoonNames

Over time, many cultures have used different names for the 12 full moons experienced each year. Usually, they’re not based on color but on a common activity that takes place that time ofyear.

Blooming Moon(Anishinaabe) is indicative of the flowering season, whileGreen Corn Moon(Cherokee) andho*r Moon(Western Abenaki) suggest that it’s time to tend to youngcrops.

Other names highlight that this is a time of new life:The Tlingit have usedthe termBirth Moon, referring to the time when certain animals are born in their region (the Pacific Northwest).Egg Laying MoonandHatching Moonare Cree terms that also hint at a time when many animal babies wereborn.

Alternative European names for this Moon include theHoney Moon and theMead Moon.June was traditionally the month of marriage and is even named after the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno. Following marriage comes the“honeymoon,” which may be tied to this alternativeMoonname!

→See all 12 months of full Moon names and meanings.

Moon Phases for June2024

See ourMoon Phase Calendarto customize dates and times to yourlocation.

June Moon Phase Dates and Times

	New Moon: June 6, 8:38 A.M. EDT
	First Quarter: June 14, 1:18 A.M. EDT
	Full Moon: June 21, 9:08P.M. EDT
	Last Quarter: June 28, 5:53 P.M. EDT

→ Also, find the Moon rise and set times here.

June MoonFolklore

• A growing Moon and a flowing tide are lucky times tomarry.
• Days following both the New and Full Moons are most likely to be rainy orstormy.
• Crabbing, shrimping, and clamming are best when the Moon isfull.

Full Strawberry MoonVideo

Learn more about how the full Strawberry Moon name originated, along with some fascinating Moon facts, in our short videohere:

Best Days in June2024

Below are the best days for activities, based on the Moon’s sign and phase inJune.

→See all activities on our Best Days calendar.

Share your thoughts about this month’s Moonbelow!