Strawberry Moon

June's full moon, the Strawberry Moon, reaches peak illumination on Friday, June 18, 2027, at 8:45 p.m. EDT (00:45 UTC). To the naked eye, the Moon looks full for about a day on either side of the peak. That makes the evenings of June 17 and June 18 the best nights to watch it rise.

Quick facts

Peak time by US time zone

The Moon is exactly full at one instant worldwide. Only the clock reading changes.

Times are calculated with the open-source astronomy-engine library. Other published sources may differ by about a minute because of rounding.

Is it a supermoon?

No. It is the opposite: at about 401,943 km, the Moon is near apogee (its farthest point, 405,686 km), so this full moon is sometimes called a micromoon. It looks a few percent smaller than average, but the difference is hard to see without a side-by-side photo.

Best viewing tips

Watch the moonrise. In New York City, the Moon rises at about 7:48 p.m. on June 17 (sunset 8:29 p.m.) and at about 8:41 p.m. on June 18 (sunset 8:29 p.m.). Times for your city will differ, so check the Moonlix moonrise page for your location.

Find a clear eastern horizon. Near the horizon, the full moon often looks orange and unusually large. The color comes from Earth's atmosphere filtering out blue light. The size is the well-known Moon illusion, a trick of perception rather than a real change.

Where it sits in the sky. At its highest, this full moon is low in the sky for mid-northern US latitudes. A June full moon stays low across the southern sky all night. Near the horizon, its light passes through more atmosphere, which often gives it a warm golden or orange color. That makes it a favorite for photographers.

Binoculars and cameras. Ordinary 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars show the dark lunar seas and the bright rays around the crater Tycho. For photos, use a tripod and a telephoto lens, shoot during blue hour just after sunset, and expose for the Moon. A good starting point is ISO 100, f/8 and 1/250 s.

Name origin and folklore

The Strawberry Moon marks the short season when wild strawberries ripen in the northeastern US. In Europe the June full moon has been called the Rose Moon or Honey Moon. Because it is the full moon nearest the June solstice, it is usually the lowest full moon of the year for Northern Hemisphere observers.

Other names recorded for this month's full moon include Rose Moon, Honey Moon, Hot Moon. Most full moon names popular in the US today were spread by the Old Farmer's Almanac and the Farmers' Almanac. Native nations had their own names, which varied by region and language, so no single list is "official."

What else is in the sky

Use the Moonlix monthly calendar to plan dark-sky nights around the new moon, when there is no moonlight to wash out faint stars and meteors. Use the June 2027 moon calendar to see every phase, and the daily moon phase pages for illumination on any date.