Strawberry Moon: last supermoon of the year to light up UAE skies on June 24

The supermoon will be visible with the naked eye

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Stargazers in the UAE can catch a glimpse of the Strawberry Moon on Thursday night.

This will be the last supermoon of the year and will be visible with the naked eye.

A supermoon occurs when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit and appears larger than normal.

Native American tribes in the 1930s called it a "Strawberry Moon" because the event coincided with strawberry harvesting season.

"The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published 'Indian' names for the full moons in the 1930s," Nasa said.

“According to this almanac, as the full moon in June and the last full moon of spring, the Algonquin tribes called this the Strawberry Moon.

"The name comes from the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries in the north-eastern United States.”

The Farmers' Almanac is an annual US periodical that has been in publication since 1818.

The first supermoon of the year was in April and appeared 7 per cent bigger and 14 per cent brighter than a regular moon.

The second appeared in May and was the biggest and brightest one of the year.

Other coming astronomical events in the UAE include the Perseid meteor shower in August, the Leonid meteor shower in November and the Geminid meteor shower in December.

Geminid meteor shower in the UAE - in pictures