Strawberry Moon delights stargazers

Stargazers took to the Internet to post photos online about the Strawberry Moon in the sky on Friday.

The name Strawberry Moon — also referred to as the Rose Moon — relates to the fairly short season for harvesting strawberries that happens every June.

Friday’s moon appeared as a minimoon, which happens when the moon is at its furthest point from Earth, known as the apogee. It appeared a bit smaller in the sky — although most people didn’t notice a difference in size.

This minimoon will be the smallest in 2017. The
next minimoon won’t appear in the sky until July 27, 2018.

Its opposite, the supermoon, occurs when the full moon coincides with perigee — that point in the moon's orbit when it is closest to Earth, appearing somewhat larger than normal because of its proximity to Earth.