On June 11, the Earth will experience another Strawberry Full Moon. This year, it will be the “southernmost” in many years, meaning that the Northern Hemisphere will have a poor view, while the Southern Hemisphere will have a good view.
Strawberry full moon
In recent years, the name Strawberry Full Moon has become quite firmly attached to the June full moon. It comes from North America, more specifically from the publications of the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Back in the 1930s, it published “folk” names for all the months of the year.
However, the question of which people these names belong to remains open. The almanac itself is rather vague on this point, mentioning both the indigenous population and European settlers.
However, scientists do not record such names for either the former or the latter. But we can say for sure that they used other names: Hot, or Full Green Corn. On the European continent, it could also be called Flower, Pink, or Horse Corn.
Although this name is not without some logic. Strawberries do ripen in June. And it originated in North America. However, the berries that we are used to calling this word do not occur in nature. This variety is artificially bred.
If this name did originate long ago, it must have referred to a wild relative of the strawberry. We sometimes call it that, too, although we call it strawberries much more often. So, the full moon itself should be called Strawberry.
The “southernmost” full moon in recent years
In 2025, the Strawberry full moon will occur on June 11. It will be neither a supermoon nor a micromoon. There will be no eclipse either. However, it will be interesting for another reason – it will be the southernmost full moon until 2043. And this situation requires further explanation.
The Moon’s orbit does not lie in the same plane as the equator of our planet. Its inclination is 5.1°, but this is relative to the ecliptic. And the equator is inclined at an angle of 23.5°. Thus, the period of the Moon’s rotation does not coincide with the periodicity of its phases, nor with the Earth’s rotation around the Sun.
Therefore, the deviation of the Moon’s position from the celestial equator during a full moon can vary from +28.7° to -28.7 °. When this value is positive, the Moon in the Northern Hemisphere rises high, and the time of its observation during the night is long. In the Southern Hemisphere, however, it is low above the horizon.
In general, near the summer solstice, the totality is the lowest, and near the winter solstice, the highest. But this is only in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the opposite is true.
At negative values, the opposite is true, and during the Strawberry full moon of 2025, this will be the case. The Moon’s orbit will be deviated to the south as much as possible. Therefore, at 60° north latitude, it will be virtually invisible, while in the southern hemisphere, where it is winter, it will be visible high in the sky all night long.
How and when to observe
Like any other, the 2025 Strawberry full moon will have an exact time of occurrence – 7:44 am GMT. m. EST). It is at this moment that the phase of illumination will be at its maximum. It is best to observe it from Australia or New Zealand. In addition to being able to watch the Moon high in the sky, this will give you another rare opportunity.
On June 10, at 11:01 a.m. GMT (6:01 a.m. EST), a day before the full moon, the moon will cover the star Antares, but it will be visible from the lands of kangaroos and Kiwi birds. The sun will have already set there. In Ukraine, at this time, they could be seen at a minimum distance from each other, but in Kyiv, it will be two o’clock in the afternoon.
And the conditions for observing the full moon in Ukraine this time will not be the best. The maximum phase will occur at 7:44 a.m. GMT (2:44 a.m. EST). At the same time, the moon itself will no longer be in the sky at this time. Theoretically, a fairly full phase can be observed on the night of 10-11, but on this night the Moon will rise at 6:02 p.m. GMT (1:02 p.m. EST) and disappear behind the horizon at 12:26 a.m. EST (7:26 p.m. EST).
In London, the situation will be only slightly better, except that the Moon will be much closer to its maximum phase before it disappears behind the horizon than in Ukraine. But where the conditions for observing the Full Moon will be noticeably better is on the East Coast of the United States. The maximum phase here will occur at 3:44 a.m. EST. At this time, the Moon will be in the constellation Scorpius, almost above the horizon.
By the way, the position of our satellite relative to the stars will not change much depending on the observer’s location on Earth. If you do not care about the moment of maximum phase and just want to admire the Moon with Antares next to it, you can also observe them in Ukraine on the night of June 10-11.
However, more or less decent conditions for this will appear around midnight, and to see anything, you will need to find a place where trees and houses do not obscure the southern horizon.
