The Moon will be full tomorrow night. It’s the Flower Moon, Rose Moon, or Strawberry Moon. But it can also be called the Short Moon or Short-Night Moon. It puts in one of the shortest appearances of any full Moon of the year. Only July’s Moon will surpass its brevity — but not by much.
These Moons are so bashful because the full Moon does the opposite of what the Sun is doing in our sky. These are the longest days of the year in the northern hemisphere, so the Sun remains in view for a long time. It also stands highest in the sky for the year.
So the full Moon does just the opposite: It stays fairly low, and with the shortest nights of the year upon us, it’s in view for only a few hours.
The difference is more pronounced as you go farther north. Miami, for example, sees about 13 and a half hours of sunlight the next few days, but as little as 10 and half hours of moonlight. From Dallas, it’s more than 14 hours of the Sun, but only 10 hours of the Moon. And from Seattle, it’s 16 hours versus just eight.
The Short Moon is the full Moon closest to the summer solstice, which is June 21st — 18 days after tomorrow night’s full Moon. July’s full Moon comes on the 3rd — 11 days after the solstice. It’ll be in view for a few minutes less than June’s Moon. So, technically, it earns the Short Moon tag. But both full Moons will be so scarce that they might as well share this year’s honors: the Short-Night Moon.
Script by Damond Benningfield