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July’s full moon is called the “Buck Moon” and will peak early Sunday morning. The Buck Moon will appear above the horizon in Split, Croatia on July 3, 2023.
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This weekend, July’s full moon will shine brightly in the sky, appearing near the anniversary of a special lunar event worth celebrating.
The full moon, known as a Buck Moon, is scheduled to peak at 6:17 a.m. ET on Sunday. Old Farmer’s AlmanacAccording to the almanac, it is called the “Buck Moon” because stags’ antlers fully grow in at this time of year.
But the moon will appear full a few days before and after its peak, so the best day to view it may be the Saturday marking the 55th anniversary. Apollo 11 Moon Landing“This will be the first human space mission to the moon,” said Noah Petro, director of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory.
“The first moon landing took place in the afternoon (July 20, 1969) and the moon walk took place that evening,” Petro said. “What better way to celebrate that than to go outside, look at the full moon and have a toast.” Neil Armstrong“Thank you to John (Luke), Buzz (Aldrin), Michael Collins and all those who helped make Apollo 11 a reality 55 years ago.”
Petro said the full moon will be visible in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, provided local weather conditions allow. To best view the moon, he recommends finding a location with a clear view of the sky, away from tall buildings and trees. Even in cities with a lot of light pollution, the moon will be visible on a clear night sky.
No special equipment is needed to view the full moon, but a telescope or binoculars will help you see its features more clearly. The dark areas you can see on the moon are “vast volcanic lava flows that are billions of years old,” Petro said.
“Even with the naked eye, you can start to see the history of the moon right before your eyes. And that’s one of the reasons I love studying the moon, because it’s revealed to people,” he added. “On a clear night with a beautiful full moon, you can see the differences in color, the differences in the surface, all of which go back to the history of the moon.”
To the average observer, the Buck Moon will look much like any other full moon, Petro said, but the full moon changes direction slightly each month. Librationand the change in distance from Earth Elliptical orbitTo observe from different perspectives, Petro recommends photographing each lunar phenomenon as it occurs and comparing it with the next.
And for those wanting to see other celestial bodies, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will also be visible in the early morning hours of July, according to NASA’s monthly observation data. Stargazing highlights video.
NASA Project Artemis It aims to return astronauts to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The space agency Moon base and further explore the Moon, contributing to new discoveries about our closest celestial neighbour.
Recently, scientists used NASA radar data to confirm the first direct evidence of caves on the moon. Lunar probeThe probe has been collecting data since its launch in June 2009. Researchers discovered a cavern that leads to a hole in the vast plain. Sea of TranquilityAlso known as the Sea of Tranquility, or the Mare Tranquility, this is the same area where Apollo 11 astronauts landed in 1969.
“When we went to the Moon 55 years ago, we knew almost nothing about it — how old it was, how it formed, how it had changed over its life,” said Petro, who is also project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Artemis 3.
“Every time we learn something new about the Moon, whether it’s a lunar cave or a sample we’ve brought back, it makes us realize how much we don’t know about it.”
Petro added that discoveries about the Moon can help us better understand other planets, and NASA hopes that further discoveries about the Moon will lead to the first human exploration of the Moon. Set foot on Mars.
With these recent discoveries and future space missions in mind, Petro encourages people to observe the full moon — and if you miss this one, there’s always another one, he added.
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There are five more full moons expected to be visible this year. According to the Agriculture YearbookThe peak dates are:
August 19: Sturgeon Moon
September 17: Harvest Moon
October 17: Hunter’s Moon
November 15: Beaver Moon
December 15th: Cold Moon
