Tonight’s strawberry moon may be tough to spot. Here’s how to catch it

The

“strawberry” full moon

is coming, but you might not be able to see it.

In Portland, the moon will rise at 9:12 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, in the southeastern sky, technically becoming full after midnight on June 11,

according to Time and Date

. The moon will appear larger than usual as it crests the horizon, due to an optical illusion known as the “moon illusion.”

It won’t get much higher in the sky after that.

Jim Todd, space science director for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, said the full moon will only reach about 15 degrees above the horizon — its lowest point of the year — meaning those without a clear view may struggle to get a good look. For comparison, the December full moon, when the moon is at its highest, will be 68 degrees above the horizon.

“Because full moons occur when the moon is directly opposite the sun, you can imagine the two as sitting on either side of a celestial see-saw,” Todd wrote in a newsletter Monday. “On the day when the sun is highest in the middle of the day (in summer), the moon is at its lowest high point at midnight; and on the day when the sun is at its lowest high point in the middle of the day (in winter), the moon is at its highest high point at midnight.”

If you’re not sure how high 15 degrees is (and that’s completely understandable), you can get a good idea with the free

SkyView Lite app

, used by many skywatchers to find constellations and track plants. The app shows the path of the moon projected over your smartphone camera view, allowing you to see if you’ll have a clear view.

Some people call the June full moon the

“strawberry moon,”

named for its timing with strawberry harvests in parts of the United States. The name was popularized by the Old Farmers Almanac, which lists other “traditional” moon names throughout the year.

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