Natural wonder lights up night sky on summer solstice for the first time since 1967
Snappers rush to capture images of the incredible lunar spectacle, which coincided with the longest day of the year
The world looked up at the skies last night as a stunning full moon lit up the heavens on the same day as the summer solstice - a cosmic coincidence which hasn't taken place since 1967.
Yesterday was the longest day of the year for people living in the Northern Hemisphere, the top half of the world occupied by Europe, Britain, the US and part of Asia.
But that wasn't the only event worth celebrating, because skygazers were treated to the sight of a beautiful spectacle called a Strawberry Moon, the name Native Americans gave to a summertime full moon thought to herald the arrival of the strawberry growing season.
Yesterday, hippies and pagans gathered in Stonehenge to mark this solstice. Later on, as the longest day drew to a close, amateur snappers and professional photographers rushed out into the night to capture images of the moon.
The simultaneous arrival of the solstice and Strawberry Moon was a once in a generation event which will not be repeated for almost 70 years.
"The last time the two events coincided was in 1967, ushering in the famous 'summer of love',"
"The next time we'll witness it will be 21 June 2062.
"So for many of us, this might be the only chance of us to see the two astronomical events line up in our lifetime."
The Strawberry Moon was not red, although it did take on a rich amber hue.
: "The sun gets super high so this moon must be super-low. Even at its loftiest at 1 a.m., it's downright wimpy-low.
"This forces its light through thicker air, which also tends to be humid this time of year, and the combination typically makes it amber colored."
The event also came on the eve of singer Lana del Rey's birthday, who shared an image on Instagram to mark the coincidence.
Amateur snappers took to Twitter and shared their own images using the hashtag #StrawberryMoon.
Some of the most popular snaps went viral and were shared by thousands of people.
Jokers also published their own hilarious moon memes.
One Twitterer compared the Strawberry Moon to a famous space ship.
Google paid tribute to the occasion with a Doodle, which can be seen below.
A Google Doodle is an animation, game or picture published at the top of the search engine's homepage to mark a special occasion.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368