by Daonie, 04.07.2022
When the Full Moon occurs around the same time the Moon is closer to Earth is called Supermoon. Supermoon is NOT an astronomical term, yet the mainstream media likes to refer to it as a scientific phenomenon.
Astrology is dated back more than 3400 years, it is still a pseudoscience and nothing to do with astronomy. I cannot argue with its popularity though.
An astrologer, Richard Nolle, defined Supermoon as ‘a New or a Full Moon that occurs when the Moon is at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in its orbit’.
The Strawberry Supermoon:
Tuesday, 14 June 2022, the media was full with pink shaded Moon images. I could imagine the disappointment of many when they got out to see the big pink Moon. On that night the Moon was definitely full and very bright, a beauty on the sky, but it was neither visibly bigger nor strawberry in colour.
June’s Full Moon is named after the wild strawberries that could be gathered by the Native Americans this month. Berries Ripen Moon, Green Corn Moon, and Hot Moon are also native names.
The Celtic names are Horse Moon, Dyan Moon, and Rose Moon. Other English names are Flower Moon and Planting Moon. The Anglo-Saxon name Mead Moon is because this was the time for mowing the meadows.
The Buck Supermoon, Raspberry Supermoon:
The second and this year's last Supermoon is on Wednesday, 13 July. I guess, nobody expects to see antlers growing on the Moon and hopefully images with such things appear only on memes. But you can expect nice raspberry colour Moon pictures for sure.
Buck Moon is to signify the new antlers growing on a male deer’s forehead around this time. The Colonial Americans adopted Native American names into their calendars, Raspberry or Salmon Moon have also native origins related to hunt and harvest.
In Celtic, this Moon was known as the Claiming Moon, Wyrt Moon, Herb Moon, and Mead Moon, indicating that July is the time to gather herbs (or wyrts).The Anglo-Saxons called it the Hay Moon after the hay harvest in July.
Upcoming Supermoons
Year | Date |
2022 | Wednesday, 13 July |
2023 | Tuesday, 1 August |
2023 | Thursday, 31 August |
2024 | Wednesday, 18 September |
2024 | Thursday, 17 October |
Super Full Moons vary by time zone. Dates above are based on the local time in Bournemouth, UK
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