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The full moon is usually the brightest object in the night sky, but not all moons are alike. June’s Strawberry Moon is a great example of this difference. It’s the third and final small moon of 2026, and you can see it on June 29. A minimoon occurs when a full moon or new moon occurs at the same time that the moon is at apogee, the farthest point in its orbit from Earth.
The Strawberry Moon reaches peak illumination at 7:56 PM ET that day, which is still during daylight hours for everyone in North America. This means that the best time to see the full moon is the same evening after sunset. The moon is scheduled to rise from the southeastern sky just after sunset and extend across the southern horizon until setting in the southwest just before sunrise.
The sun won’t rise very far above the horizon in June thanks to the summer solstice.
One of the less friendly satellites to watch
You may notice that the Strawberry Moon is not very high in the sky this month, and this is normal. The June full moon is the lowest full moon of any given year, due to the same mechanisms we know Summer solstice. The Earth tilts on its axis, and during the summer solstice, the northern hemisphere tilts toward the sun. This means that the sun is higher in the sky than it is at other times of the year.
This also applies to the Moon, albeit in the opposite direction, as the Moon is always opposite the Sun. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Moon, so the Moon appears lower in the sky than it normally does. It’s not quite as low as last year’s Strawberry Moon, which was the lowest full moon in decades, but if you’re in a place with a lot of trees, you might have some trouble finding it.
A minimoon is noticeably smaller and less bright than a supermoon or even a regular full moon.
June’s full moon is also the last small moon of the year, so in addition to being low on the horizon, it is also smaller than usual. The Moon’s orbit around Earth is elliptical rather than circular, meaning that the Moon is sometimes closer to Earth, a phenomenon known as perigee, and sometimes farther away, a phenomenon known as apogee.
Since the moon is at its zenith, so is it About 7% smaller What would normally appear during a typical full moon, which is about 14% smaller than a supermoon. The full moon is still easy to find and is the brightest thing in the night sky, but you may have to walk around the block to see it behind the trees in your area.
