The Virginian-Pilot
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In some areas, the sky this week is featuring a huge strawberry treat -- a moon that appears to be a giant pink sphere.
Scientists call the sight the Moon Illusion.
It occurs each year on June 18 and is called a solstice moon because summer solstice occurs on or near June 21, according to this explanation from NASA. According to the National Weather Service Web site the summer solstice this year occurs on June 20.
"This is significant because the sun and full moon are like kids on a seesaw; when one is high, the other is low,” a description on the NASA Web site says. “This week’s high solstice sun gives us a low, horizon-hugging moon and a strong Moon Illusion.”
The solstice moon also is often called the Strawberry Moon, according to NASA's Imagine the Universe site. On the site, an astrophysicist explains it this way:
"The Full Moon of June generally goes by the epithet of the 'Rose Moon,' or the 'Flower Moon,' while people in certain areas blessed with berries, as ours is, prefer to call it the 'Strawberry Moon.' But even in a month with that many Moon monikers to go around, only the first Full Moon gets granted a formal name.
"Following the Rose/Flower/Strawberry Full Moon of Saturday, June 1, the Sunday June 30 return, like all second comers, will be hailed simply as the 'Blue Moon.' "
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I'm blissfully ignorant
Hmmm...science? Well, of course being the idiotic moron that I am (but a resourceful one at that), I looked it up. So here's a little lesson for you thousands of other idiotic morons. The Native Americans came up with names for each of the recurring full moons to keep track of the seasons. I don't know, but I remember learning about Native Americans in history, not science.
My teachers must have been ignorant as well. :)
A simple view
I am grateful the Pilot posted the story yesterday. I took my youngest son and we headed towards the beach to see if it was really true. According to my 9 year old, "The moon's not a strawberry, Mom, it's a giant cheese wheel!" We thought it was wonderful.
It's always nice to see things through the eyes of a child. We all should do it more often.
Ok, Ok
I will go with you on the planets, not counting Pluto... But come on 10 stars. That is ridiculous to think some is a buffoon because they can name 10 stars of the top of their head. I love science and I can't even name 10 stars, except the North Star and the Sun. Would you also consider some dumb if they couldn’t recite the periodic table from memory, I can’t do that either. I guess I’m just not that smart. I can explain String Theory and how it could relate to alternate universes though, watched a very interesting pro-am on the Science Channel about that.
Article incorrect
"Strawberry Moon" refers to the time of year the moon is full - NOT its actual color. It is akin to saying "Harvest Moon" or "Hunters' Moon" and it does NOT occur every June 18. It just happens to be June 18 this year.
The lack of even simple scientific knowledge in this country is very sad. I suspect more Americans read and believe their horoscope daily than can list the planets in the solar system or name ten stars other than out sun. But that's ok - ignorance is bliss. Just keep believing what the government tells you to believe and everything will be fine.
Keri, I already explained that
It can be full whenever the government wants it to be full, it's just a projection on a giant screen. Sheesh, pay attention already.
Forget the grammar and spelling
There are some other pieces here confusing me a lot more. The moon can't be full on the first, again now, and again on June 30, and it can't do this "every year on June 18"--the lunar calendar is what we based things on, but it's different than our 30/31 day business. The solstice comes at the same time each year--although even those dates vary by a day at times, don't they--leap years? But the moon may or may not be full in the days leading up to it. Lots of the quoted parts seem to be referring to different years, don't they?
Maybe I didn't pay enough attention in science class.
Terridavisnewman
Watch your clauses Terri. You were a couple of commas short in your epistle.
As for some one...
As for someone whose profession is composition, yes, they should know proper technique. It is what they get paid for. As for everyone else, as long as you get your message across, who cares? There are plenty of intelligent people out there that choose to not follow proven science; evolution, global warming and so on... and there are plenty of intelligent people that can’t do a lick of math. We all have our niche.
Moon
It looked like a normal full moon to me. I was disappointed, it wasn't larger then normal and it was the normal yellow-orange. I got the family all excited over nothing. Two thumbs down from me.
As far as "English" goes, I was horrible at grammar, composition, spelling and literature in grade school but I excelled in Math and Science. Today I do very well for myself as an IT professional. Does it matter to my employer or me that I can’t spell or my grammar isn’t the best, no. What matters is my ability to write structured, logical code and analyze data. As long as the message is conveyed I could careless if someone writes “site” or “sight”, if they were speaking to you, would you know the difference?
Moon
Will we be able to see it again tonight???