Mark your calendars UAE–tomorrow night, June 14, you’ll be able to spot a large pink supermoon in the sky.
This will be the second of four supermoons expected to appear in in 2022 with the first one appearing last month on May 16.
Want to watch it? Here’s how.
A paid special event is being held at the Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre tomorrow from 6:30pm until 8:30pm which will let you get up close and personal with the moon via a telescope while also hosting a lecture and Q&A session.
Why is it called a Strawberry Moon? According to Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre website, the moon’s name is derived from the wild strawberries that ripen in the month of June before they are gathered by Native American Tribes. It gets its rose or reddish appearance when it rises above the horizon and reflects the colour of the rising sun.
According to NASA, an old European name for this moon is the Honey Moon as its appearance marked the time that honey was ready to be harvested. This could also be why people go on honeymoons and not strawberry moons as the Europeans considered this to be the ‘sweetest’ moon of the year.
Not only will the moon appear pink but it will also be a supermoon. These are much larger than the average moon due to being at its closest point to Earth in its Orbit. Just to put that into perspective, the average distance between the Moon and Earth is 384, 472km but tomorrow night, the Moon will be 357, 658km from the Earth, which is much closer than last month’s supermoon.
If you miss tomorrow’s Strawberry Supermoon, fear not as the next supermoon is expected to appear on July 13th and the final supermoon of the year will appear a month later on August 12.
Last month’s Blood Moon
Last month, May 16 to be exact, saw the rise of the “Super Blood Flower Moon”.
On that day, the moon passed into the earth’s shadow, causing a total lunar eclipse.
This is also called the “Blood Moon,” as it will turn the surface of the moon to a reddish color.
It lasted for a total of 84 minutes, according to scientists.
And yes, this was also a supermoon—perhaps the biggest moon of the year.
NASA’s full moon guide is here.
In case you’re wondering, the blood moon lunar eclipse looks something like this:
The lunar eclipse followed the pink moon
A pink moon also recently came to the UAE.
What is a pink moon? It’s actually a full moon that’s called that traditionally for the April full moon, originally named that because of the emergence of pink wildflowers in the month of April.
The flowers are called “Phlox Subulta” and bloom during the springtime on the east coast in North America.
The moon, however, isn’t actually pink—it actually glows orange.
The April full moon is also called a ‘Sprouting Grass Moon’, a “Growing Moon”, the “Fish Moon” and the “Hare Moon”.