Moon myths and names

The full moon of June is called the Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Honey Moon or Rose Moon. American Indian tribes called it the Strawberry Moon (Algonquin, Seneca, Ojibwe), Corn Planting Moon (Hopi), Green Corn Moon (Cherokee) and Full Leaf Moon (Cree).

Most people associate the June full moon with weddings and honeymoons. One explanation for this name comes from the fact that the full moon closest to the summer solstice follows the lowest path across the sky of all the year’s full moons, making them appear larger and honey-colored because of the thicker atmosphere. Another is that the name comes from the old English “hunig mona” or “honey month” because honey was thought to have aphrodisiacal properties and was consumed by wedding couples. The use of month is unclear but may have been related to the period of time for an official wedding celebration.

Our celestial neighborhood

In 1953, amateur astronomer Leon Stuart photographed a flash in front of the moon’s face that he believed to be an explosion resulting from an object hitting the lunar surface. Recently, the Clementine space probe photographed the crater produced by the impact. It is about 1.2 miles in diameter and was produced by an object approximately 65.5 feet across.

Lunar material thrown up by such collisions frequently finds its way to Earth as meteorites and lies scattered across the wastes of Antarctica and the African Sahara. The chances of meteorites from the 1953 impact reaching Earth is about 50-50, but it takes about 10,000 years after the event. James Head, quoted in the June issue of Sky & Telescope, says that 13 meteorites, whose travel times have been established by cosmic ray exposure, left the moon between 0.5 million to 9.0 million years ago but much of this time could have been spent lying on the Earth’s surface.

Focus on the planets

Mercury lies low on the eastern horizon about a half-hour before sunrise to the immediate right of Venus. You will need binoculars to spot the innermost planet as June opens, but on the solstice it closes to within half a degree of its far brighter neighbor before dropping from sight.

Venus is easy to spot low in the east just before sunrise and can be used to find its much fainter companion Mercury. Be sure to check them out June 21 when they are extremely close to each other.

Mars rises around 1 a.m. in the southeast as June opens, growing in size and brilliance daily as it heads for its once-in-many-lifetimes show in August. Even now a small telescope will allow prominent features to be seen, such as the polar caps.

Jupiter remains prominent in the west at twilight and sets around midnight. There is still time to catch a glimpse of Jupiter’s bands and interactions among its four major moons. However, the gas giant is continuing to sink toward the horizon.

Saturn may be spotted during the early part of June low on the northwest horizon far to Jupiter’s lower right. On June 1, a thin crescent moon hovered just above Saturn about three-quarters of an hour after sunset.

Neptune rises in the southeast after midnight in Capricornus, where its bluish-gray disk should be visible through a small telescope.

Uranus is just entering the constellation of Aquarius to the left of Neptune. Mars will pay a call on Uranus on June 19, with the waning gibbous moon directly below the two planets. Look for Uranus as a dim greenish disk to the immediate upper left of Mars.

Pluto is in the south in Ophiuchus, where it remains in view all night. This is relative, however, as you will need a moonless night, a finder’s chart, and an 8- to 10-inch telescope to have a hope of spotting it.

June events

3 Check out the west-northwest horizon about an hour after sunset for the crescent moon. Pollux and Castor of Gemini will be directly to the right. Saturn is far down to the lower right, Any morning in early June will find Venus and Mercury huddled together low on the predawn eastern horizon.

7 Moon in first quarter, 4:27 p.m.

12 Moon at perigee, or closest approach to Earth.

14 Full moon, 7:15 a.m. See the beginning of this column for the various names of the full moon of June.

15 Night owls can see a rapidly growing Mars on the southeast horizon around 3 a.m. The star glittering in solitary splendor directly below the Red Planet is Fomalhaut. This is the date of earliest sunrise, 4:30 a.m., at 40 degrees north latitude.

19 The moon, Mars and Uranus form a close-knit grouping about an hour before sunrise on the southern horizon. Uranus is to the upper left of Mars, while Neptune is to the far right of the Red Planet.

21 Summer solstice, 3:11 p.m. This represents the most northern point in the sun’s journey above the celestial equator and the longest day of the year for residents of the Northern Hemisphere. The sun is also entering the astrological sign of Cancer. Moon in last quarter, 10:46 a.m.

22 The sun enters Gemini on the ecliptic but, astrologically, has just entered Cancer.

23 St. John’s Eve when midsummer used to be celebrated in old England with bonfires lit across the length and breadth of the land.

29 New moon, 2:38 p.m.

30 Sunrise, 4:52 a.m.; sunset, 8:25 p.m.

Clair Wood taught physics and chemistry for more than a decade at Eastern Maine Technical College in Bangor.