Sky watchers in for a treat Friday night

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Can you believe it’s already June? Well, don’t blink because you might miss June’s full moon. It’s actually called a “short-night full moon.”

If you are an avid sky watcher, you find yourself in your backyard, often throughout the month, looking up into the sky, discovering amazing things in our solar system. You’re going to want to get outside in early June.

If you don’t, you might miss something big.

“The full moon that’s going to happen on June 2 this year is known as the strawberry moon, or the flower moon, or the rose moon,” said Professor Mark Pitts, who teaches astronomy at Eastern Kentucky University. “The moons that are going to occur in both June and July are sometimes referred to as short night moons or short full moons. That’s because these particular full moons will be above the horizon for a particularly short amount of time.”

Why? It’s simple. Earth’s tilted, which is one of the same reasons why we have seasons.

“A full moon means the moon has to be on the other side of the sky from where the sun is, so the moon is going to be particularly low in the sky, on average, than it usually is, and that means that the full moon will only be above the horizon for a very short amount of time compared to how long it usually is,” said Professor Pitts.

Here’s where to look.

“During sunset, it should be rising. So you want to have a nice open view of the eastern sky,” Professor Pitts said.

Something else you are going to find shining bright in the sky in the month of June - Venus. Just look west.

Copyright 2023 WKYT. All rights reserved.