Full Strawberry Moon Is A Supermoon: When To Watch In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — The spring and summer of stellar odditities and lunar lunacies continues this weekend, and Pennsylvania residents might have a chance to catch a glimpse.

The next supermoon is set to risesaround 8 p.m. Eastern Time over Pennsylvania on Monday. Fondly known as the full strawberry moon, this June full moon is so known because it's the tiem of year that strawberries typically ripen.

However, viewing will all depend on the weather. AccuWeather forecasts thunderstorms in the eastern part of the state over the weekend, but Monday looks to be at least partly clear for most o the region. According to forecasters, there's about a 50 percent chance of a somewhat clear view of the moon.

Lunar leerers should turn their gaze to the southeast just after sunset on Monday. “There,” Old Farmer’s Almanac wrote, “it will appear large and golden-hued.”

This is the stuff lasting childhood memories are made of. Anyone who hasn’t stretched out on a blanket and made up stories about kids around the block playing with a beach ball or some other fantasy has been cheated out of one of the greatest pleasures of childhood.

So by all means, make the supermoon watch party a family outing. If you miss this one or the weather doesn’t cooperate, here’s some good news: Monday’s is the first of three consecutive full moons that qualify as a supermoon.

Supermoon isn’t an astronomical term, but one coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 to explain the effect of perigee — the moon’s closest approach to Earth in a given orbit — when it occurs during a full moon.

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No one paid much attention to Nolle’s definition until 2011, “when the full moon arrived at an exceptionally close perigee, coming within 126 miles (203 kilometers) of its closest possible approach to Earth," Joe Rao wrote for Space.com.

The heavens held another delight this month: a rare planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn that won’t occur again until August 2040, according to AccuWeather. You’ll be able to see the parade of planets through the end of the month, but the best date to mark is before 5 a.m. local time on June 24, when a crescent moon joins the planetary parade.

• Related: Supermoon, Planetary Parade And Other Sky Shows In June

Also, with the summer solstice later this month comes a chance to see rare noctilucent clouds, sometimes called “electric blue clouds” because of their color, according to AccuWeather.

And who knows? You may see a meteor or two. There’s no shower expected, but meteors are always flying, and several shooting stars an hour are usually visible on any given night, according to NASA.

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The next meteor shower — the Delta Aquariids — doesn’t start until July 12. It runs through Aug. 2, peaking on July 28-29. Mark your calendars for that one, because a new moon means excellent viewing conditions for this shower, which produces about 20 meteors an hour at the peak.

Consider it a warmup act for summer’s main shooting star event, the Perseids, famous for their fireballs. That shower runs July 17-Aug. 24, producing up to 60 shooting stars per hour at the Aug. 12-13 peak.