Tonight, it might be worth taking a look at the sky

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This year’s June full moon, also known as the Strawberry Moon, is lower in the sky than it has been since 2007.

On Wednesday, June 11, you can marvel at the so-called “strawberry moon” in the sky. Shortly after 10 p.m., the full moon will be visible in the sky, hovering lower above the horizon than it has since 2007, according to the Association of Star Friends.

Low in the sky, large and reddish: this is how the moon will appear tonight and tomorrow evening. It offers a celestial spectacle that can only be observed about once every 18.6 years.

The phenomenon is caused by what is known as the great lunar standstill. This effect occurs when the inclination of the moon’s orbit around the Earth (around 5.2 degrees) and the inclination of the Earth’s orbit around the sun (around 23.4 degrees) overlap in such a way that the moon reaches its lowest point in the sky with a declination of around -28.6 degrees.

This is associated with the highest point the moon can reach in the sky. This was the case two weeks ago, when the moon reached a declination of around +28.6 degrees. The next great lunar standstill will not occur again until 2043.

This has to do with what is known as the moon illusion. This optical illusion makes the moon appear larger near the horizon than when it is higher in the sky. According to Dr. Björn Voss from the Hamburg Planetarium, one of the reasons for this is that the human brain “automatically compares the moon with trees, houses, and other objects.”

This would make the moon appear much larger, as he explained to the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper.

Another phenomenon that makes the moon appear larger is the so-called supermoon. This occurs when the moon is less than approximately 369,000 kilometers away from Earth. It can then appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter. However, the moon is currently about 399,000 kilometers away from Earth. So the Strawberry Moon is not a supermoon. The next supermoon will not be visible until November 5, 2025.

The name comes from the North American Algonquin tribes, who named the full moons after the cycles of nature, and for them, the strawberry harvest began in June. The name has nothing to do with the color of the moon, however.

This is due to the Earth’s atmosphere: the lower the moon is above the horizon, the more the light is scattered, especially the short-wave blue components. What remains is a warm, yellowish to reddish glow.

Today, the moon rises at around 8:47 p.m. To enjoy it, however, you’ll have to be patient, as the sun doesn’t set until around 8:54 p.m. Tomorrow, the moon rises at 9:48 p.m. It’s best to find an elevated spot with a clear view to the east.