These 17 Stunning Photos of the Strawberry Moon Show Earth’s Natural Satellite in All Its Glory
The first full moon of the summer delivered dazzling visuals from across the globe. Its low position in the sky from the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere gave it a golden hue
The strawberry full moon rises behind the Empire State Building in New York City on June 29, 2026, as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey.
Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
These 17 Stunning Photos of the Strawberry Moon Show Earth’s Natural Satellite in All Its Glory
The first full moon of the summer delivered dazzling visuals from across the globe. Its low position in the sky from the perspective of the Northern Hemisphere gave it a golden hue
The strawberry full moon rises behind the Empire State Building in New York City on June 29, 2026, as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey.
Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
The moon is always there, even when we can’t see it. Through all its phases and phenomena, people love to look up at our planet’s only natural satellite and follow along.
Of this year’s 13 expected full moons, seven have already passed. Most recently, June’s “strawberry” moon dazzled in the night sky as the first full moon of the summer. The moon’s peak illumination occurred around 7:57 p.m. E.T. on June 29 in the United States.
“For all of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this is the lowest full moon of 2026, and one of the lowest full moons in decades,” said EarthSky founder Deborah Byrd during a June 24 livestream. That low position made our celestial companion take on a golden hue, she added, because skywatchers in the north were “looking at it through a greater-than-usual thickness of Earth’s air.”
The strawberry moon earned its sweet nickname not because of any pink coloration, but because of the season in which it appears.
According to Bob Berman, astronomy editor for The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the name “has been used by Native American Algonquian tribes that live in the northeastern United States as well as the Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota peoples to mark the ripening of ‘June-bearing’ strawberries that are ready to be gathered.”
This year’s strawberry moon was later than last year’s, which happened on June 11. The 2026 edition is also a micromoon, “the second-smallest full moon of 2026,” notes Jamie Carter at Live Science
Did you know? The micromoon
The unofficial term micromoon refers to a full or new moon that occurs around the apogee, the point in the moon’s orbit when it’s farthest from Earth.
Even if you missed the peak, you might still see a striking moon in the coming evenings. As Daisy Dobrijevic reports for Space.com, skywatchers will also see the moon “appear bright and round for a night or two before and after” the June 29 peak illumination.
No matter its phase, the moon consistently makes for a fantastic photography subject. Enjoy these images of the strawberry moon, as well as the orb the day before it reached peak fullness, from across the world. And keep your eyes skyward for the six full moons to go in 2026.
The full strawberry moon rises behind the skyline of midtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building in New York City on June 29, 2026, as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey.
Gary Hershorn / Getty Images
The full strawberry moon rises in Foster City, California, on June 29, 2026.
Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images
The strawberry moon is seen behind the towers of the Cathedral in Molfetta, Italy, on June 29, 2026.
Davide Pischettola / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The strawberry moon rises above a Reformed Church in Abaujvar, Hungary, as observed from near Kechnec, Slovakia, on June 29, 2026.
Robert Nemeti / Anadolu via Getty Images
The strawberry moon appears in the evening sky over the Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf, Iraq, on June 29, 2026.
Karar Essa / Anadolu via Getty Images
The strawberry moon rises behind the ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, near Athens, Greece, on June 29, 2026.
Nicolas Koutsokostas / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The strawberry moon rises over Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on June 29, 2026.
Faisal Khan / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The strawberry moon rises behind the 175-foot statue of Indian social reformer Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, on June 29, 2026.
Jwala Kotesh / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The strawberry moon lights up the night sky on June 29, 2026, in Qingzhou, Shandong Province of China.
VCG / VCG via Getty Images
The strawberry moon sits in the sky above Qingzhou, Shandong Province of China, on June 29, 2026.
VCG / VCG via Getty Images
People are seen walking along the banks of the Tejo River as the strawberry moon hangs in the sky across Lisbon, Portugal, on June 29, 2026.
Jorge Castellanos / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
The strawberry moon, behind city lights, rises in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on June 30, 2026.
Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto via Getty Images
The strawberry moon appears behind the balcony of a high building in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on June 30, 2026.
Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto via Getty Images
An almost full strawberry moon rises behind Glastonbury Tor as people gather to watch on June 28, 2026, in Glastonbury, England.
Matt Cardy / Getty Images
The moon hangs over Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on June 28, 2026, the day before the strawberry moon's peak.
Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu via Getty Images
An airplane flies in front of the moon in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on June 28, 2026, the day before the strawberry moon's peak.
Mert Alper Dervis / Anadolu via Getty Images
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