June's Full Strawberry Moon to Rise Monday Evening

The June full moon will become fully illuminated at 7:56 p.m. on June 29 and will be visible rising in the southeastern sky shortly after sunset on Monday. While the Moon will appear fully lit throughout the night, observers may see a yellow, orange or faint pink hue at moonrise as its light passes through a thicker layer of Earth’s atmosphere.

"Rayleigh scattering causes shorter blue wavelengths to be scattered, allowing longer red and orange wavelengths to dominate the color we see," scientists explain.

The name "Strawberry Moon" originates from Algonquian-speaking peoples of the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, who marked the brief period when wild strawberries ripened. European settlers later adopted many of these seasonal lunar names, and the term entered popular almanacs.

Other Indigenous groups used different names for the June full moon, such as the Dakota and Lakota’s berry-related terms, the Cherokee’s "Green Corn Moon," the Western Abenaki’s "Hoer Moon," the Haida’s "Berries Ripen Moon," and the Cree’s "Egg Laying Moon," each reflecting local seasonal activities.

Because the Sun follows its highest path across the sky at this time of year, the full moon appears lower in the night sky than in earlier months, tracing one of its lowest arcs near the recent June solstice. The next full moon, called the "Buck Moon," will occur on July 29, named for the period when male white-tailed deer begin growing new antlers.