The Moon was full this month on June 22nd, only a day after the northern hemisphere's summer solstice. Since this solstice marked the northernmost point of the Sun's annual motion through planet Earth's sky, the full Moon rising near the ecliptic plane opposite the Sun was at its farthest south for the year.
Only a month earlier, on May 23rd, astronomer Anthony Ayiomamitis recorded this picture of another southerly full Moon rising above Cape Sounion, Greece. The twenty-four hundred year old Temple of Poseidon lies in the foreground, also visible to sailors on the Aegean Sea. In this well-planned, single exposure, a long telephoto lens makes the Moon loom large, but even without optical aid casual skygazers often find the full Moon looking astonishingly large when seen near the horizon. That powerful visual effect is known as the Moon Illusion.
This week’s full moon occurs on June 22nd, one day after the summer solstice on June 21st. The full moon will hang lower in the sky than any full moon since June 1987.
The Moon's Nutation Cycle, or the time it takes the moon's nodes to complete one (retrograde) revolution, of 18.61 years along the ecliptic plane means the next occurrence will happen in 2025…
For Pagans, of course, the full moon at winter Solstice is more important. The last one occurred on December 22 1999. At certain recumberant stone circles the moon would seem to roll over the top of the southern most stone on the shortest day of the year.
