When the full moon known as the "Strawberry Moon" occurred on the same day as the summer solstice this week, astronomy lovers got pretty excited, considering that it was a once in a lifetime event. It leads many people to wonder, though: Just how often is there a Strawberry Moon, anyway? According to the Farmer's Almanac, the Strawberry Moon occurs once every year, in the month of June, typically toward the end of the month. Here's what you need to know about it.
But what is a Strawberry Moon in the first place? While you might initially assume that a Strawberry Moon appears in the sky as an adorable shade of pink, that's actually not the case; the Strawberry Moon doesn't get its name from its color (and, in fact, the Strawberry Moon is more likely to appear as a rich, amber color instead of pink). There's a full moon every month of the year, and the Strawberry Moon is simply the standard full moon that appears at the end of June. So, why the name? According to the Farmer's Almanac, Algonquin tribes used moon cycles as a measure of time when it came to crop seasons for fruits, vegetables, hunting, etc. In this case, they knew the June full moon as a time to gather ripening strawberries — which is actually still the case today, so right now is probably the ideal time to go grab some super juicy strawberries from your local farmer's market.
So, to recap, the reason the Strawberry Moon and the summer solstice occurring at the same time on June 20 was such a big deal wasn't because the Strawberry Moon or the summer solstice are super rare individually — indeed, they both occur once a year — but because it's so rare for them to occur simultaneously. It's so rare, in fact, that scientists don't think there will be a Strawberry Moon on the summer solstice again until June 21, 2062.
So what about all the other full moons that occur each year? Do they all have names, too? As it turns out, yes, they do. The Farmer's Almanac breaks it down like this: January is the Full Wolf Moon; February is the Full Snow Moon; March is the Full Worm Moon; April is the Full Pink Moon; May is the Full Flower Moon; June is the Full Strawberry Moon; July is the Full Buck Moon; August is the Full Sturgeon Moon; September is the Full Corn Moon; October is the Full Hunter's Moon; November is the Full Beaver Moon; and December is the Full Cold Moon.
So, while we have to wait another year for the Strawberry Moon to reappear, we can definitely keep track of the moon cycles up until then. If you're an astronomy nerd like yours truly, or if you're just into a little casual research, it can definitely be fun and intriguing to learn more about the cycles of the moon and how the moon impacted different cultures and societies over time. Happy moon gazing!
