That magnificient night sky above us.

On Sunday evening Jean and I were invited around to Jim and Janet’s place as their regular summer movie nights swung back into the calendar.

Around 10pm local time the night sky just shone with stars and planets and my old friend The Plough, or Big Dipper (Ursa Major), was up there pointing the way to the North Star.

Then as we all prepared to return to our homes, around 11pm, there was the wonderful, fabulous full Moon.

So it’s a special day today as for the first time in almost fifty years both the full moon and the Summer Solstice fall on the same day. Or better put over on Time and Date:

First June Solstice Full Moon in Decades

In 2016, a full Moon, also commonly known as Strawberry Moon, will coincide with the June Solstice. The 2 events haven’t occurred on the same day since 1967 and will not coincide again until 2062.

Now technically the exact moment of the Solstice was yesterday evening at 22:34 UTC. Or to put it as it was mentioned over on EarthSky:

On June 20, 2016, the moon turns full at 11:02 UTC. The solstice arrives some 11.5 hours later, at 22:34 UTC.

I will close with the gorgeous photograph of that full moon, again courtesy of that EarthSky article.

I must admit that there’s a strange feeling inside me knowing that this was the last time that I will see such a coincidence of full moon and summer solstice.

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