If you're stepping outside tonight and tomorrow night to see the 2025 Strawberry Moon, you may notice a bright red star sitting close to it.
This star is Antares, a low-lying red-hued star located in the constellation Scorpius.
On 10 and 11 June, the Strawberry Moon will be sharing the same patch of sky with it, and if you observe the full Moon on both nights, you'll see it change position relative to the star.
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10 June 2025
Tonight you'll see the Strawberry Moon rising in the southeast around 21:30–22:00, depending on where you're located in the world.
Above and to the right of the full Moon, you'll notice a red star. This is Antares, the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius and the 'heart' of the scorpion.
If you think this star looks a little like Mars, you're not alone.
'Antares' means 'rival of Mars' in Greek, and is known as such because of its reddish colour, making it appear like the Red Planet with the naked eye.
Of course, it's not a planet. Antares is a red supergiant star nearing the end of its life.
Keep scanning across to the right and you may be able to see the three stars that form the scorpion's crown: these are, from top to bottom, Acrab, Dschubba and Fang.
They're often known as the 'Crown of Scorpius' because they make up the scorpion's head.
And if you're wondering where the scorpion's claws are, they've been stolen by the neighbouring constellation Libra!
Libra has two stars, Zubeneschamali, meaning ‘northern claw’, and Zubenelgenubi, meaning ‘southern claw’.
The stars' names reflect that fact that these stars used to be considered part of Scorpius, but have since been adopted into the constellation Libra, the scales.
11 June 2025
Look up at the Strawberry Moon on 11 June and you'll see it has moved even further away from Antares.
The Moon appears to track eastward across the sky, night after night, so each night you look at it, it will be more to the 'left' than the previous night.
The stars and planets don't change position to the same degree as the Moon, so if you observe the Moon over the course of a few nights, you may see it hop along a constellation or a line of planets in the sky.
You may have read already that this Strawberry Moon is the lowest Moon of the year, and that's why it's been lying close to Antares.
Antares is a low-lying star in Scorpius, a constellation that never fully rises above the horizon for northerly latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
And tonight, 11 June, the Strawberry Moon is in Sagittarius, another low-lying constellation in the Northern Hemisphere.
The full Moon on 11 June is located near the 'spout' of a star pattern known as the Teapot asterism, which is located within Sagittarius.
If you've been observing the Strawberry Moon or photographing it, get in touch by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
