First ‘major lunar standstill’ in nearly 20 years is set for this weekend – here’s how YOU can see the celestial event

This year marks the first ‘major lunar standstill’ since 2006, when the moon’s path travels higher in the sky – appearing to standstill to people on the ground.

Also known as the ‘lunistice,’ the event occurs when the tilts of both the Earth and moon are at their maximum and will overlap with the summer solstice on Friday night, June 21 in the northern hemisphere. 

On that day, the moon will set rise and set at its most northeasterly and northwesterly points, making it appear in the night sky longer.

The major lunar standstills have been highly anticipated events throughout history as structures like England’s Stonehenge and both America’s Chimney Rock and Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks align perfectly with the moon in the night sky.

Stonehenge is famous for its alignment with the sun, but the ancient monument may have also been carefully designed to align with the movements of the moon, archeologists theorize

Some skywatchers will be viewing the celestial event from Stonehenge and a few archeologists plan to test whether or not the ancient site was built in alignment with the rare lunar event. 

And similar spectacles linked to indigenous landmarks in the US will be occurring across these lunistice months at Chimney Rock in Colorado, the Hopewell Sites in Ohio, and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico.

While local high points for the major lunar standstill will vary based on your location around the globe and nightly weather conditions, it has a chance of visibility two nights a month from now until November 2025. 

The moon can appear to rise and set at different points of the horizon due to the angles of its orbit and the tilt of Earth’s axis. 

While our entire solar system is, essentially, flat and the majority of planets, dwarf planets and asteroids orbiting within a flat plane or disk called the ecliptic, the moon’s orbit comes in a slightly different angle.

As the Earth spins along an axis tilted by 23.4 degrees off this ecliptic plane, our moon’s orbit is titled by only 5.1 degrees relative to the ecliptic.

The result is that the moon’s rising and setting points, and thus how much of the Earth it traverses in between, can vary by 57 degrees depending on the year.

A major lunar standstill marks the most extreme of its range: the moon will rise at its highest northeasterly point and set at its very highest northwesterly point — and it will also rise at its most southeasterly point and set at its most southwesterly point. 

The Archaeoastronomy Database has built an interactive spreadsheet calculator, a video tutorial and a shorter fact sheet on what evenings in the northern and southern hemisphere will enjoy the most extreme moments of the major lunar standstill based on the perspective from their longitude and latitude.

But the key summer dates you will want to remember if you live in the US or elsewhere in the northern hemisphere are June 21-22, July 19 and August 15.

These are the main moments where the major lunar standstill will overlap with either a full moon or a phase of the moon that is big and bright enough to enjoy, as opposed to a blacked out full moon.

Those living near Ohio may want to check out the lunistice this Friday at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, where it will align with earthwork hills made thousands of years ago by the Native Americans who lived in the Chillicothe region.

This ‘once-in-a-generation event,’ park officials noted, will help the visiting public visualize how the Hopewell people ‘used their deep knowledge of astronomy to align these geometric figures to the endless cycles of Sun and Moon as they travel back and forth along the horizon.’ 

According to the US Forest Service which manages the land surrounding Chimney Rock in Colorado, this weekend’s summer solstice-timed lunistice won’t be visible passing through these long, tall national monuments in person.

Those living near Ohio may want to check out the lunistice this Friday at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park , where it will align with earthwork hills made thousands of years ago by the Native Americans who lived in the Chillicothe region

‘The ancestral Puebloans of Chimney Rock,’ according to the US Forest Service, ‘ would have seen the moonrises shift gradually each year. In time they would have noticed that at the northernmost point in its multi-year journey, the full moon would rise between the rock pillars’

‘The Forest Service and partners are discussing opportunities to share the event via other platforms such as live streaming, still photography and/or video recording in 2024-2025,’ federal officials noted in a fact sheet. 

‘The ancestral Puebloans of Chimney Rock,’ the service noted, ‘would have seen the moonrises shift gradually each year. In time they would have noticed that at the northernmost point in its multi-year journey, the full moon would rise between the rock pillars.’

The service said that, despite this historic value, the area would be closed off on these evenings due to safety concerns, including ‘potential wildlife encounters such as bears, mountain lions, rattlesnakes.’

But similar restrictions won’t befall those near Stonehenge in the UK.

In the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs when Earth’s north is most greatly inclined towards the sun, and the winter solstice occurs when it’s titled away from the sun

Experts think that during the major lunar standstill, the moon will be in alignment with Stonehenge’s ancient ‘Station Stones’. Although only two are still standing, the Station Stones marked the corners of a perfect rectangle with its central point in the exact center Stonehenge

Thousands of tourists will flock to Stonehenge in the English countryside this weekend for the summer solstice and lunistice overlap, including some scientists. 

A project to investigate Stonehenge’s link with the major lunar standstill is being led by experts at the universities of Oxford, Leicester and Bournemouth.

Dr Fabio Silva, senior lecturer in archaeological modelling at Bournemouth University, said during the major lunar standstill, the moon will be in alignment with Stonehenge’s ancient ‘Station Stones’.

Although only two are still standing, the Station Stones marked the corners of a perfect rectangle with its central point in the exact centre of the monument.

One of the sides of this rectangle appears to be pointing in a southeast direction, corresponding to where the moon will be rising during major lunar standstill.

‘We want to assess whether this is likely to be by chance or whether it was intentional,’ Dr Silva told MailOnline this past April.

‘So we want to assess where one needs to stand, how many people could effectively witness the alignment, whether after rising/before setting the moon will be obscured by other stones that may diminish the experience, whether moonlight casts shadows inside the circle,’ Dr Silva explained.

‘These are the things that, put together, may help us build an argument for or against these alignments,’ the archeologist said.

Stonehenge was deliberately built to align with the sun on the solstices, according to English Heritage, which manages the site. 

It explains: ‘At Stonehenge on the summer solstice, the sun rises behind the Heel Stone in the north-east part of the horizon and its first rays shine into the heart of Stonehenge.

Major lunar standstills have been highly anticipated events throughout history as structures like England’s Stonehenge and both America’s Chimney Rock and Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks align perfectly with the moon in the night sky. Above, one event above Colorado

‘Observers at Stonehenge at the winter solstice, standing in the enclosure entrance and facing the center of the stones, can watch the sun set in the south-west part of the horizon.’ 

Identifying whether or not the site was built, in part, to mark the lunistice, could help advance one theory for why the megalith was built: as a gigantic stone calendar. 

Professor Timothy Darvill, an archaeologist at Bournemouth University, thinks Stonehenge served as an ancient solar calendar, helping people track the days of the year.

The British researcher behind the theory thinks Stonehenge’s great sandstone slabs, called sarsens, each represented a single day in a month, making the entire site a huge time-keeping device.

But the theory is still hotly debated, with some archeologists and other academics describing it as ‘totally unsubstantiated’ and based on ‘forced interpretations, numerology and unsupported analogies.’