Summer solstice on June 21: the longest day
The Northern Hemisphere meets the summer solstice on June 21, the longest day of the year, and eight days later a low Strawberry Moon, the lowest full moon of the whole year.
- The June solstice falls on Sunday, June 21, at 10.25 Central European Time, marking the start of astronomical summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
- It is the longest day of the year, after which daylight slowly shortens until the December solstice.
- The first full moon after the solstice, the so-called Strawberry Moon, follows on June 29.
- Because it sits so close to the solstice, it will be the lowest full moon of the year and may look golden, orange or reddish.
The Northern Hemisphere reaches the summer solstice on Sunday, June 21, 2026. The exact moment falls at 10.25 Central European Time, which is 4.25 in the morning Eastern Time. On that day the Sun climbs to its highest point in the sky for the entire year, and daylight lasts longest before it begins to shorten again. For observers at our latitudes it is the start of astronomical summer and one of those dates when the Earth’s path around the Sun can be felt without any instrument at all.
A solstice is not an event that lasts all day but a precise instant. It is the moment when the Earth’s North Pole is tilted most directly toward the Sun, so the Northern Hemisphere receives the most direct light. After that instant the days slowly grow shorter, though it takes people several weeks to notice the change. The word solstice comes from a Latin term meaning that the Sun appears to stand still, because the point where it rises and sets on the horizon barely shifts for a short while.
Why will the late-June full moon sit so low?
Eight days after the solstice, on June 29, the sky offers a second sight. That is when the first full moon after the solstice arrives, known as the Strawberry Moon. Because a full moon stands opposite the Sun in the sky, and the Sun is at its highest at this time of year, the Moon travels on a low path close to the horizon. That makes this the lowest full moon of the entire year, the opposite of what happens around the winter solstice, when the full moon rides high across the night sky.
The low path has a visible side effect. When the Moon is near the horizon, its light passes through a thicker layer of atmosphere, which scatters the blue wavelengths and lets the warm tones through. As a result, a low full moon often looks golden, orange or even reddish. This is not a change in the Moon itself but an atmospheric effect, the same one that colors sunsets. For anyone with an open horizon, free of tall buildings and trees, the view will be most striking in the first hours after the Moon rises.
Where does the Strawberry Moon get its name?
The name Strawberry Moon comes from the tradition of North American peoples, who named full moons after seasonal changes in nature. The June full moon marked the time when strawberries ripen and the harvest begins, which is the origin of the name. It is a folk label rather than an astronomical one, so the name says nothing about the Moon’s color or size, only about the season in which it appears.
It is also worth being clear about what this sight is not. A low full moon is not an optical illusion in the sense of being enlarged, nor is it a supermoon by definition. Both the solstice and the full moon are predictable, repeatable astronomical events, not the announcement of anything unusual. No equipment is needed to watch, only a clear view toward the east in the evening hours near the end of June. Will you find an open horizon on June 29 and wait for the lowest full moon of the year to rise?
