The full Moon on June 16 will be the biggest and most colorful-looking of the year for skywatchers in the northern hemisphere. On the heels of NASA's 7th annual Great Moon Buggy Race, engineers from the Apollo program discuss the challenges of building the original Lunar Rover. The Inconstant Moon - Take a new tour of the Moon every night. If you think that one full Moon looks much like any other, you could be in for a surprise this Friday. On June 16 the Moon will become full just four days before the northern summer solstice.
Astronomers say that makes it worth seeing.
A moon seen just above the horizon looks much larger than normal. The most popular explanation is that visual distance cues like mountains and trees make the Moon appear farther away when it's close to the horizon. Our human brains compensate for the perception of great distance by adjusting the size of the Moon upward. The illusory nature of June's swollen full Moon won't detract from its beauty. In fact, not only will the Moon seem bigger than normal on June 16, but it's likely to appear more colorful, too.