Full moon, so called “Strawberry moon” was taken in Tochigi prefecture, eastern Japan. Photo: On-chan / Wikipedia Commons
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The full moon on Wednesday marked the annual appearance of the so-called strawberry moon, but cloudy skies prevented most of Finland from seeing it.
In the United States and other parts of the world, June’s full moon carries the name due to its seasonal timing with wild strawberry harvests. The name, along with others such as wolf moon in January and pink moon in April, comes from long-standing cultural traditions and farmer’s almanac classifications.
Anne Liljeström, communications officer and expert at the Finnish astronomy society Ursa, explained that the reddish appearance sometimes associated with the strawberry moon is not due to its name. The colour results from atmospheric conditions.
“A low altitude and particles in the air can give the moon a yellow or even red tint, depending on humidity and air pollution,” Liljeström said.
The moon in June never rises high in the sky. Around midnight on the southern coast of Finland, it hovers just one degree above the horizon. In more northern parts of the country, it stays entirely below the visible horizon line.
This year’s weather conditions further limited visibility. “Even modest cloud cover at the horizon is enough to obscure the view,” Liljeström added.
Most of the country remained under dense cloud on Wednesday. Matti Huutonen, a meteorologist at Yle, said two separate rain systems were moving through Finland.
One front extended from North Karelia to northern Lapland, while the second spread across southern Finland, moving northward toward Central Finland during the day.
The only areas with any potential for clearer skies were in Ostrobothnia and western Lapland, according to Huutonen. In southern regions, conditions made sightings impossible.
“There’s no strawberry moon view in the south. The closest you’ll get is by putting an actual strawberry in your mouth,” Huutonen said.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
