The near full Buck Moon rises behind the Shard in London (Picture: Peter Macdiarmid/LNP)
This week’s Buck Moon may not have quite reached its peak, but it gave a stunning preview of what’s in store on Sunday night and Monday morning.
The Buck Moon is July’s full moon, named after the male deer who begin regrowing their antlers around this time. The name hails from Native American history, while other monikers include the Thunder Moon and Hay Moon.
The 2023 Buck Moon is particularly notable however, because it is also a supermoon. Supermoons happen when a full moon coincides with lunar perigee, meaning the Moon is at its closest point to the Earth. The Moon’s orbit around our planet is not a perfect circle, it is elliptical – an oval – meaning it varies in distance.
Tonight, the Moon will be around 225,000 miles from Earth, compared to an average of 238,855 miles. At its furthest point, the Moon is 252,088 miles away – known as lunar apogee.
The Buck Moon will be at its peak at 12.38pm today, but remain large and bright in the sky throughout both Monday and Tuesday night – depending on the weather.
Summer 2023 promises to be a bountiful one for moon gazers – the Buck Moon is the first of four this season. Next month boasts two, the Sturgeon Moon on August 1 and Blue Moon on August 31, followed by the Harvest Moon on September 28.
Phases of the Moon
Waxing crescent moon
First quarter moon
Waxing gibbous moon
Full moon
Waning gibbous moon
Last quarter moon
Waning crescent moon
The near Buck Moon rises through a haze behind the Statue of Liberty, New York City (Picture: Gary Hershorn/Getty)
The Moon appears larger when captured close to the horizon, as hear behind the Ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Greece (Picture: Xinhua/Shutterstock)
A plane flies in front of the near Buck Moon over Istanbul, Turkey (Picture: Getty)
The near supermoon captured behind the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt (Picture: Xinhua/Shutterstock)
The Wimbledon weathervane is silhouetted by the moon rising (Picture: Julian Finney/Getty)
A helicopter flies in front of the near full moon as it rises over The Strat Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada (Picture: David Becker/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock)
The near full moon glows behind the Power and Light in Kansas City, Missouri (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Photographer: Charlie Riedel Provider: AP Source: AP(Picture: AP)
It’s the first of four this summer.