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The July Full Moon, also known as the Back Moon, rises tonight (July 3) as a supermoon.
an exciting event for sky watchers, the Super heroes You see the disk of the moon appear larger and brighter in the night sky, but Pac Moon 2023 will be even more exciting as it kicks off a season of four supermoons in a row. Supermoons can result in a 30% brightness of the moon and a 14% increase in the lunar disk as seen from Earth, but these differences are usually not noticeable to the naked eye unless one pays a lot of attention to the moon at night.
Super moons are the result of the Moon getting closer to the Earth at the time of the full moon. Eclipse expert and retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Spaink Space.com told Space.com that during July’s Buck Moon, the Moon will be 224,895 miles (361,934 kilometers) from Earth compared to an average distance of about 238,000 miles (382,900 km).
Related: Supermoon: what is it and when does it happen?
Read more: Full Moon Calendar 2023: When to see the next full moon
Supermoons occur because the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a complete circle; As a result of the influence of Earth’s gravity, the Moon’s orbit is elliptical, appearing as an oblong or elliptical circle. This means that there are times in the Moon’s 27-day orbit that it is closest to Earth and other times that it is further away. A supermoon occurs when the moon is in the full moon phase of its 29.5-day lunar cycle and is at perigee, which is the point closest to Earth in its orbit.
according to in the sky From New York, the Full Buck Moon for July will appear at 7:10 PM EST (2310 GMT) on Monday (July 3) and set at 4:33 AM EST (0833 GMT) on Tuesday (July 4). ).
After July, the next supermoon will rise on Tuesday, August 1 in the form of the Sturgeon full moon. During this supermoon, Spaink said, the distance between Earth and the natural satellite will be 222,158 miles (357,530 km).
August will see a second supermoon in the form of a blue moon on August 30. This will be an especially special event for lunar watchers as it will see the Moon at its closest point during the “Summer of the Super Moon” period, at a distance of 222,043 miles (just 357,344 km).
Just after summer 2023 ends on September 23, so does this Festival of the Giant Pyramids, which ends on September 28 with the appearance of the full corn moon in September when the moon is 224,657 miles (361,552 km) from Earth.
The full moon will also witness the last super moon of 2023, and the next super moon is scheduled to fall on September 18, 2024, according to in the sky. Next year there will only be two supermoons, and the next one after September will happen a month later on October 18, 2024.
If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of Pac-Mon or other superheroes, our guides to The best telescopes And best binoculars Great place to start.
If you’re looking to take pictures of the moon and the night sky in general, check out our guide on How to visualize the moonAnd so do we The best cameras for astrophotography And The best lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s note: If you captured this July Full Buck Moon photo, and would like to share it with Space.com readers, submit your photo(s), comments, name, and location to [email protected].
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