Full Strawberry 'Minimoon' Shines with Saturn Tonight! What to Expect
(Sorry late!)
'This evening brings us the June full moon. And because strawberries are the first fruit after rhubarb to ripen in late spring and early summer — and the peak season (some might call it the "more natural" season) for picking strawberries is June — the traditional moniker for the June moon is Strawberry Moon.
There is another name that we could assign to tonight's full moon: "minimoon." That’s because this month's full moon will be the smallest in 2017. We're all, of course, familiar with the branding of supermoon, when the full moon coincides (or very nearly so) with perigee — that point in the moon's orbit when it is closest to Earth. On such occasions, the moon appears somewhat larger than normal because of its closeness to Earth.
Well, tonight's (June 9) moon is the opposite of that circumstance; a full moon that nearly coincides with apogee, the moon's farthest point from Earth.[The Moon: 10 Surprising Lunar Facts]
In the very strictest sense, when you look at the moon on Friday, it will not be at its farthest point from Earth. '>>>
https://www.space.com/37147-strawberry-minimoon-2017-smallest-full-moon-tonight.html?
= new reply since forum marked as read
