Look: Strawberry Moon rises in the UAE skies

The Strawberry Supermoon rose tonight (June 14) and was visible in the UAE skies.

Why didn't the moon turn pink?

Despite its name, the celestial event won’t see the moon turn pink or red. The Strawberry Supermoon is “likely to appear in reddish or rose colour, mainly because it will rise above the horizon and get the colour of the rising sun”, Dubai-based Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre says on its website.

“June’s full moon is named after the wild strawberries that ripen this month and could be gathered by the Native American tribes.”

It has other native names, including Berries Ripen, Green Corn, and Hot Moon.

The honeymoon connection

Did you know that the celestial event may have a connection with the word ‘honeymoon’?

“The word ‘honeymoon’ traces back to at least the 1500s in Europe. The tradition of calling the first month of marriage the ‘honeymoon’ may be tied to this full moon because of the custom of marrying in June or because the ‘Honey Moon’ is the ‘sweetest’ Moon of the year,” an article on NASA's Deep Dive Planetary Website says.

What’s a supermoon?

The astronomy centre defines a supermoon as a full moon that nearly “coincides with perigee” — the closest that the moon comes to the earth in its elliptic orbit. This results in a “slightly larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk as viewed from Earth”.

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