July's full buck moon will peak in time for the Apollo 11 lunar landing anniversary
CTV
July's full moon will shine bright in the sky this weekend — and lands near the anniversary of a special lunar event worth celebrating.
July's full moon will shine bright in the sky this weekend — and lands near the anniversary of a special lunar event worth celebrating.
The full moon — nicknamed the buck moon — will peak at 6:17 a.m. ET Sunday, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. It’s called the buck moon because male deer, or bucks, fully grow their antlers at this time of year, the almanac says.
But since the moon appears full for a few days a month surrounding its peak, the best time to view it might be on Saturday to mark the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, the first space mission to bring humans to the moon, said Noah Petro, chief of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory.
"The first moon landing was in the afternoon on (July 20, 1969), and then they did the moonwalk that night," Petro said. "There’s no better way to celebrate that than by going outside and looking at the full moon and toasting Neil (Armstrong), Buzz (Aldrin) and Michael Collins, and all the people who helped make Apollo 11 a reality 55 years ago."
Local weather conditions allowing, the full moon will be visible to those in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, Petro said. For optimal moon gazing, he recommends finding a spot 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 in a clear night sky.
No equipment is needed to view a full moon, but a telescope or pair of binoculars could enhance its features — the dark areas that can be observed on the moon are "vast volcanic lava flows that are billions of years old," Petro said.
"Even with the naked eye … you can start seeing the history of the moon in front of you. And that’s one of the reasons why I love studying the moon — is that it’s laid bare for folks to see," he added. "On a beautiful full moon clear night, you can see differences in colour, you can see differences on the surface that all go back to the history of the moon."
