Photo of the Day: June 21, 2016 – Strawberry Moon Over East Bay

I shot this photo of the “Strawberry Moon” over East Bay last night, down by the Bluffs on Bluff Road.

According to EarthSky.net, this is a “once in a generation” event. For the first time since June 1967, two astronomical phenomena occurred at the same time. Monday evening, June 20, 2016, a full “strawberry” moon shone in the night sky during the summer solstice – the longest day of the year.

The EarthSky story by Bruce McClure notes that a full moon on a summer solstice is a rare event, and another one is not likely to occur until June 21, 2062.

And why is it called a strawberry moon? The Old Farmer’s Almanac notes that the Algonquin tribe of indigenous Americans called the June full moon by that name because it occurred around the time the strawberries were being picked. And I’ll add that it’s a beautiful color, as well.

The moon reached its fullness Monday morning, and the actual evening solstice took place at 6:34 p.m. Eastern time. Two hours after that, the moon rose at 8:41 p.m. Eastern time. Fortunately, there was just a smattering of clouds above the Old Mission Peninsula, so we’re lucky that we were able to see this event that occurs every half-century.

Photographer’s Note: I shot this with my Canon EOS T6i DSLR with an EF S55-250mm lens, ISO 100, f11, 1/100. I didn’t use a tripod, but that’s always a good option when shooting the moon.