June 8-10, 2025: This month’s Full moon, known as the Strawberry Moon, passes Scorpius in the southeastern sky after sunset.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
June’s Strawberry Moon
This month’s seasonal bright moon is known as the Strawberry Moon. It is the third Full moon of the season, following the names Pink and Flower. Usually, each season has three full moons. On occasions when a fourth bright moon occurs during a season, there is no name for it. The name Blue is given to it.
The official Full moon occurs on the morning of June 11th at 2:44 a.m. Central. In North America, the night of the Strawberry Moon occurs after sunset on June 10th and ends at sunrise on June 11th.
While the full moon night is usually tagged with the seasonal name, the bright gibbous phases are included in this designation. It’s easy to navigate the terrain in bright moonlight.
Bright Moon Highlights
During the three nights described here, the moon approaches and passes Scorpius. Take a binocular outside to see the Scorpion’s shape behind the bright moon. Here’s what to see one hour after sundown.
- June 8: The lunar orb, 95% illuminated, is over 20° above the south-southeast horizon. In front of Libra, the moon is nearly 16° to Antares’ upper right, Scorpius’ brightest star, and 10° to the lower left of Zubenelgenubi, in the Scales.
- June 9: During daytime in the Americas, the moon occults or eclipses the star Pi Scorpii (π Sco on the chart) for sky watchers in Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. After sunset in the Americas, the moon, 98% illuminated, is about 15° up in the south-southeast. It is nearly midway from Antares to Pi Scorpii. All three, along with Al Niyat, to Antares’ upper right fit tightly in the same binocular field of view.
- June 10: After moonset this morning in the Americas, the moon occults or eclipses Antares for sky watchers in New Zealand and Australia. On this night of the Strawberry Moon, it is less than 10° above the southeast horizon, 8.4° to Antares’ lower left. The lunar orb is in front of Ophiuchus tonight.
Watch the Strawberry Moon move eastward and pass Scorpius.
2025, June 8-10: The Strawberry Moon moves eastward and passes Scorpius.
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