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By Mike Vergara, (951) 461-2889 June is often a terrible month for stargazing. Southern California's "June Gloom" often washes out the sky unless you're above it in the mountains or out in the desert. This month, spring officially turns into summer when June Solstice, or the Summer Solstice, as it's known in the northern hemisphere, happens late on June 20/21. "Solstice" is a Latin- based word that in essence means "sun stands still." Since winter, the sun has been moving north in the sky, and on solstice day the sun stops moving north (it stands still). This gives us the longest period of daylight in the year. This month's full moon will happen on June 24. Native Americans referred to this as the "Strawberry Moon" because these delightful little fruits are ripe for the picking this month. Some European countries call this the "Honey Moon" due to the ancient custom of giving and drinking mead (honey) wine. This is the third (and final) full "supermoon" of the year. I personally do not use (or even like) the term, because (1) it was conceived by an astrologer, and (2) it's a term that's become too overused by the media. To explain, I must get slightly technical. Astronomical orbits are not circles; they are ellipses, which is to say they are basically oval. Since the moon's orbit is an oval, then on every orbit (every month), there is a point when the moon is closest, and a point where it is the farthest away. The closest point is called "perigee" and the farthest is called "apogee." When the moon is full at perigee, it is touted as a "supermoon." The moon can be at perigee in any phase, but the term "super new moon" is rarely used. In comparison, the orbit of the Earth around the sun is also an oval and has closest and farthest points, albeit with different names. When Earth is closest to the sun, it's called "perihelion," which happened on Jan. 2 when the sun was 91 million miles away. The farthest point is called "aphelion" and will occur on July 2 when the sun is over 94 million miles away. Yet the term "supersun" has never been used. Visit http://skymaps.com/index.html to print your own map of the sky for the month. For information about satellites or the ISS, go to https://heavens-above.com. Clear skies! COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD 20 | THE COLONY NEWS | JUNE 2021 | june Sky june Sky