Blass red strawberry moon illuminates the night sky over Germany!

Blass red strawberry moon illuminates the night sky over Germany!

In the night from June 12, 2025, the night sky over Germany was allowed to offer a very special sight: the pale red strawberry moon. This impressive appearance of heaven, which in Upper Bavaria flashes particularly impressively behind dark forests, is not only a visual spectacle, but also carries an interesting name.

Originally, the term “strawberry moon” comes from the Algonquin, an indigenous people in North America, and refers to the time of the strawberry harvest in June. Michael Passarge from the Freundeskreis der Himmelkunde in Bad Salzschlirf explained that the name does not come from the color of the moon. In fact, the moon was about 398,000 kilometers away from the earth, not as close as you could think by lightning. The special thing about this moon is its optical deception: it seems particularly great when it opens close to the horizon, which works in the perspective when it appears behind trees or buildings that work smaller.

a special appearance

The strawberry moon not only has a special status this year. 2025 is a year in which the orbit of the moon in the cycle of the knot turn is particularly deep, which means that under favorable conditions the moon can appear strikingly large and reddish. Such a phenomenon will not be observed until 2043. The full moon, which is not only called "strawberry moon", but is also known as "Rosenmond" or "Brachmond", was particularly visible in the night, which is a real pleasure for star lovers.

An exciting explanation of its coloring offers physics: If the moon is deep in the sky, the light reflected by the sun must cover a longer path through the earth's atmosphere. In this process, more blue light is scattered, so that more red light remains, which causes the reddish appearance.

Find the adequate place

The best visual conditions can be reached when you choose an increased position with a clear view towards the southeast. Nevertheless, the weather is a crucial factor that has to ensure that the sky is clear and the view remains unhindered. Photographs of the moon usually do not show the optical illusions that we perceive with the naked eye - such effects can also be observed in the sun during the low sunsets.

All in all, the strawberry moon is not only an astronomical event that stimulates the assessment of the natural spectacle, but also a memory of how diverse the naming of Himmel bodies is. This connection between nature and culture ensures that such nights remain unforgettable and always amazed us.

Interesting details and further explanations of the fascinating heavenly appearance can be found in the reports of ZVW , Tagesschau and SELF.