The Sky This Week: Enjoy July's Buck Moon
Friday, July 23
Full Moon over Melbourne, FL: July’s Full Moon is also called the Buck Moon; the photographer caught this stunning shot just after sunset July 19, 2016.
Full Moon occurs at 10:37 P.M. EDT, putting the nearside of our satellite on full display. The July Full Moon is also called the Buck Moon, so named by the Native American Algonquins of the northeastern U.S. According to NASA, some may also call it the Thunder Moon, thanks to the prevalence of thunderstorms at this time of the Northern Hemisphere summer.
The Full Moon’s brightness makes it difficult to observe much else in the sky, but the Moon itself makes an excellent target, regardless of whether you have binoculars, a telescope, or no equipment at all. Naked-eye observers can easily map out the Moon’s dark seas, or maria, which are younger than the surrounding terrain and filled with ancient lava. Several of the nearside’s largest craters are al...
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