Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has once again delighted fans of his work with a very spectacular new image. This time he captured the rising of the Strawberry Moon.

Strawberry moon. Source: Andrew McCarthy

The image was taken on the night of June 22 to 23. McCarthy used an SLR camera and a 1,000-millimeter telephoto lens to take the photo. This is a composite image made up of several individual shots.

The Strawberry Moon has nothing to do with the color of the moon. It takes its name from the Old Farmer’s Almanac published in the 1930s. Each full moon was given its own name. According to the generally accepted version, it comes from wild strawberries, which actively ripen in the forests of North America during this period. At the same time, scientists have no data indicating that Native American people actually called the June full moon by that name.

This last full moon was also notable in that the Moon was at a record high above the horizon in the northern hemisphere. This is due to its proximity to the summer solstice, during which the Sun is as high above the horizon as possible and the Moon is as low as possible.

The peculiarities of the lunar orbit also played a role. It is tilted 5 degrees relative to the ecliptic plane — and it was in June 2024 that the Moon was at its lowest point. The next time such a “low moon” will occur again is 19 years from now. We previously told you how Andrew McCarthy created a unique 368-megapixel portrait of the solar eclipse.