Posted on 06/02/2015 5:45:04 AM PDT by onyx
Tonight – June 2, 2015 – watch for the full moon to group up with the planet Saturn and star Antares in the eastern sky at dusk and nightfall. As our Earth turns underneath the heavens tonight, look for this full moon, Saturn and Antares to move westward across the nighttime sky. The celestial threesome will climb highest up tonight around midnight, and will sit low in the west at dawn June 3.
In North America, we commonly call the June full moon the Strawberry Moon.
This year’s Strawberry Moon turns precisely full on June 2, 2015 at 16:19 Universal time. Although the full moon comes at the same instant worldwide, the clock reading varies by time zone. At U.S. time zones, the moon turns precisely full at 12:19 p.m. EDT, 11:19 a.m. CDT, 10:19 a.m. MST and 9:19 a.m. PDT.
From North America, we can’t see the moon at the exact instant of full moon because it turns full during our daylight hours, when the moon is beneath the horizon and under our feet.
The moon will turn full at midday June 2 for eastern North America and western South America, at midnight (0 hours June 3) for western Australia and eastern Asia. The shadow line passing through Africa shows you where the moon turns full at sunset June 2, and the shadow line running across the Pacific Ocean shows you where the moon turns full at sunrise June 2 – or sunrise June 3 – depending on which side of the International Date Line you live.
However, the moon appears full to the eye, and remains more or less opposite the sun, for a few days.
Technically speaking, we in North America see a waxing gibbous moon on the morning of June 2 and a waning gibbous moon on the evening of June 2. Even so, the moon will look plenty full all night long, in North America and around the world, as it lights up the nighttime from dusk until dawn!
Bottom line: At dusk and nightfall on June 2, 2015, look for the full moon – called the Strawberry Moon in North America – low in the southeast, not far from Saturn and Antares on the great dome of sky.
Dang right! I'm still looking for the guy who told me there was a new moon and when I went outside and looked, there was nuthin' there.
A few days ago there was a thread where someone mistyped "waxing gibbous" as "waxing gibbons" (and others helped out by posting photos of gibbons).
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