This is the third supermoon of 2021.
A full moon is always intriguing. But a supermoon, well, they tend to attract a lot more attention and for good reason — they’re super-freaking amazing to see and this year, we get to witness three.
The first supermoon of 2021 took place on 27 April and the second occurred on May 26. We’re certainly spoilt for choice down under because now a strawberry supermoon will be lighting up our skies in the early morning of June 25.
However, despite its name the moon will not actually be red or pink in colour. But this is primed to be the last supermoon of the year so you’ll want to catch a glimpse while you can.
In Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, the moon will be full at 4.39am. In Adelaide it’ll take place at 4.09am because of the time difference — and in Perth, it’ll be visible at 2.39am.
For the best view of the supermoon, and views of the stars on the regular, it’s always recommended to head to places with as little light pollution as possible. If you’re living in the city, finding dark skies can be a little difficult. But to help you on your mission, use this light pollution map to guide your way.
A supermoon, or rather a full moon that coincides with the moon’s closest orbital point (called the perigee) to Earth, is actually 30 percent brighter in the night sky and 14 percent larger than when the moon is at its apogee—the furthest point from Earth.
Although the term supermoon has been around for forty-odd years, not everyone is happy with the name. The world’s most famous astrologer, Neil deGrasse Tyson who is currently the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, has said that there the very concept of a supermoon is an ”embarrassment to everything else we call super: Supernova, Supercollider, Superman, Super Mario Bros.”
This is presumably because there is no scientific evidence that supermoons actually influence or have had effects on the weather, volcanoes and earthquakes as some people believe they have.
Even so, we think they’re fascinating.