Full Moon - First Light Back - June 2026
First light session after 4 years of gear being in storage during the house build. Shot from the Athens rooftop (Bortle 9) with the trusty 130PDS, this time with the ZWO ASI533MC Pro replacing the old Canon 6D.
The best part of the night was sharing the rooftop with my wife over pizza and beers under the full moon - before the telescope took over :)
Bad seeing on the night made lucky imaging the only sensible approach - 3000 frames captured, best 50% stacked in AutoStakkert!4, sharpened with PixInsight MultiscaleLinearTransform.
Not bad for a first night back!
The June Full Moon is traditionally known as the Strawberry Moon, peaking on June 29, 2026 at 23:57 UTC, positioned in the constellation Sagittarius.
The name has nothing to do with the Moon's color - it was used by Native American Algonquian tribes, including the Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota peoples, to mark the ripening of wild strawberries ready to be gathered in June. Other names include Berries Ripen Moon, Hot Moon, and Mead Moon.
The 2026 Strawberry Moon is also a micromoon - occurring just one day after apogee, the farthest point in the Moon's orbit, making it appear approximately 12-14% smaller and dimmer than average.
Because the June full Moon always rises opposite the Sun, and the summer solstice just passed on June 21, the Strawberry Moon follows the lowest arc of any full Moon in 2026, hugging the southern horizon and passing through more atmosphere - which gives it warm golden and amber tones at moonrise.
Sky-Watcher Explorer 130PDS F5 (650mm)
ZWO ASI533MC Pro (via USB2.0)
Gain: 100 (unity gain)
Exposure: ~5ms per frame
3000 frames SER video, best 50% stacked
Stacked in AutoStakkert! 4.0.13 (Wine on Ubuntu 24.04)
Processed in PixInsight (MLT sharpening, CurvesTransformation)
Location: Athens rooftop, Greece (Bortle 9)
Date: June 29, 2026