Strawberry Moon: See Last Supermoon Of 2021 In Studio City

STUDIO CITY, CA — The 2021 sky has another treat in store: after a year full of supermoons, one of the biggest will grace California this Thursday night.

The last of three 2021 supermoons will be called the Strawberry Moon, but that’s not because it will resemble a big red strawberry. Instead, various Native American tribes welcomed the June moon as the start of the strawberry-picking season. But scientists say the moon will look a bit more like a peach.

“It’ll look goldish,” astrophysicist Jackie Faherty told NPR. “It can have a tiny bit of a red tinge to it depending on what’s in the atmosphere, but mostly it will look like a nice yellow.”

Travel up north and the moon may take on a reddish hue, according to NASA. “The full moon nearest the summer solstice shines through more atmosphere than at other times of the year, making it more likely to have a reddish color, for the same reasons that sunrises and sunsets are red,” the agency said.

The moon is known by other names related to the summer fruits, flowers, drinks, and weather that follow it: it has been called a “hot moon,” a “mead moon,” a “rose moon,” and a “honey moon.” It is unknown whether the modern word “honeymoon” is related to the strawberry moon.

Thursday’s moon will be somewhat farther away from the Earth than the other supermoons, at 224,662 miles away, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Because it is closer to the Earth than other full moons, it is expected to be about 7% bigger and 15% brighter than the usual full moon.

The strawberry moon will also be one of the year’s most colorful. The moon’s low, shallow path across the sky means that the moonlight will travel through more of the Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in the yellow tint.

So when will be the best time to take in another celestial wonder in Studio City? According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the moon will rise Thursday night at 8:36 and set Friday morning at 5:26.

The sky will be mostly clear, according to the National Weather Service. Strawberry moons forever.