Don’t Miss Saturn and ‘Strawberry Moon’ That Will Light Up the Night Sky Starting this Week

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Mark your calendars and schedule the romantic date – this week’s night sky will provide a visual feast of celestial proportions.

Follow Nexter.org to know what to expect.

Summer nights

Hey, folks, here comes the best opportunity of the year to view Saturn as this is when the planet will be closest to Earth, making it appear brighter than normal.

It will also be visible with the unaided eye all night long, rising in the East around sunset and slowly making its way across the sky before setting in the West around sunrise, local time.

“Saturn is at opposition on [Wednesday] June 27, when it and the sun are at opposite sides of Earth,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said.

Saturn will officially reach opposition around 9 a.m. EDT Wednesday, but the best time to see it will not come until Wednesday night when it pairs up with the moon.

This will make it easy for people of all ages to spot Saturn among a sea of countless stars in the night sky.

The pairing will also present photographers with an excellent opportunity as Saturn and the moon will be close enough to easily fit in the same frame, as long as the sky is clear.

Source: Giphy

June’s full moon is often called the Strawberry Moon, which is named because it signaled to the Algonquin tribes that it was the time of year to gather ripening strawberries, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

So starting Tuesday night, head outside with a telescope or binoculars if you can and look for Saturn shining in the east relatively close to the big moon. And if you can’t find it, you’ll have plenty of time to look as the gas giant will remain in a good place for observation through July and August.

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