Here's How To Spot Partial Lunar Eclipse Of June's Strawberry Moon, According To NASA

Known as the Strawberry Moon, June’s full Moon is the last to occur in spring. This year, it will appear opposite the Sun at 3:12 pm EDT, looking full for about three days beginning early Thursday morning along the US East Coast, according to a NASA blog post. Despite its suggestively pink-hued title, the strawberry moon was named by the Native American Algonquin tribe for the short season of harvesting strawberries that comes with the month, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. The Algonquin are reportedly the first native people encountered by European settlers and were known, like many other groups, for naming each moon as a method of tracking the seasons and changes in the environment. Europeans, on the other hand, named June’s celestial event Mead Moon, Honey Moon, or Rose Moon.

“In Europe where strawberries were once unknown, June’s full Moon was most commonly known as the Rose Moon. This was the month when fragrant gardens reached their peak, and the rose bushes exploded into bold color, offering respite from the gray days of winter,” adds the almanac.

During the partial penumbral eclipse, the Moon will not be visible in the sky for most of the Americas largely due to the positioning of the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The Moon shines in the night sky because it is reflecting the Sun’s rays, but when the Earth comes between the two celestial bodies, some or all of the Sun’s light is blocked from reaching the Moon. This year, the lunar body will pass through Earth’s partial shadow, according to Time and Date.

“If we could see the Moon, the slight dimming during this eclipse will not be noticeable without instrumentation," writes NASA. "For spacecraft at the Moon such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the reduction in solar power is noticeable."