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Astronaut Snaps The Best Shot Of The Rare Strawberry Moon

“A spectacular rise of the full moon just before sunset while flying over western China.”
Astronaut Jeff Williams took this photograph of the rare Strawberry Moon emerging from the clouds while orbiting Earth from the International Space Station on Tuesday.
NASA/Jeff Williams
Astronaut Jeff Williams took this photograph of the rare Strawberry Moon emerging from the clouds while orbiting Earth from the International Space Station on Tuesday.

While the rest of us struggled to snap one of the rarest full moons this century on our phones, one man got a shot that's truly out of this world.

NASA astronaut Jeff Williams was in the International Space Station, hovering over western China, when he snapped this picture of the celebrated "Strawberry Moon" on Tuesday:

Astronaut Jeff Williams took this photograph of the rare Strawberry Moon emerging from the clouds while orbiting Earth from the International Space Station on Tuesday.
NASA/Jeff Williams
Astronaut Jeff Williams took this photograph of the rare Strawberry Moon emerging from the clouds while orbiting Earth from the International Space Station on Tuesday.

The phenomenon only occurs when a full moon coincides with the northern hemisphere's longest day of the year, known as the summer solstice.

The last time it happened was during the so-called "summer of love" in 1967.

The strawberry name originates from the Algonquin tribes that in northern Michigan and Canada. They believed that a full moon in June signified that it was time to start picking fruits, including strawberries. But the rare occurrence is also known as the Rose, Hot or Honey Moon because the setting sun's positioning causes Earth's natural satellite to appear amber-colored.

NASA said astronauts see "literally hundreds of scenes of the moon rising and setting over Earth" from the ISS, but Williams is one of the few people that got to witness this rare lunar phenomenon from space.

And with this delicious image of the Strawberry Moon emerging from sun-kissed clouds to look back on, we're grateful he did.

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