The fourth and final supermoon of 2021 will rise this week, and it's going to be a sweet one.
The "Strawberry Moon" will appear in the night sky on June 24. (The other three supermoon events took place on March 28, April 27 and May 26.)
"Since we can't see a new Moon (except when it passes in front of the Sun), what has caught the public's attention in recent decades are full supermoons, as these are the biggest and brightest full Moons for the year," says NASA.
The term "supermoon" was invented by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and "refers to either a new or full Moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth," says NASA.
The berry name instead comes from "Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples, among others, to mark the ripening of 'June-bearing' strawberries that are ready to be gathered," says The Old Farmer's Almanac.
The moon will technically reach peak illumination at 2:40 p.m. Eastern Time, says the Old Farmer's Almanac, but won't be visible until nightfall.
The Strawberry Moon will rise from the southeast at 9:31 p.m. in Cincinnati.
You can also view the moon rise above Rome via the Italy-based Virtual Telescope Project.
