July’s full moon will peak in time for the anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing

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July’s full moon will shine in the sky this weekend — and land near the anniversary of a special lunar event worth celebrating.

The full moon — dubbed the buck moon — will peak at 6:17 a.m. ET on Sunday, according to Old Farmer’s Almanac. It’s called the buck’s moon because male deer, or stags, fully grow their antlers this time of year, the almanac says.

But as the moon appears full for a few days each month around its peak, the best time to observe it may be on Saturday, to mark the 55th anniversary of the moon. Apollo 11 lunar landingthe first space mission to take humans to the Moon, said Noah Petro, head of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory.

“The first moon landing was in the afternoon (July 20, 1969), and then they did the moonwalk that night,” Petro said. “There is no better way to celebrate this than to go out and look at the full moon and toast Neil (Armstrong)), Buzz (Aldrin) and Michael Collins, and all the people who helped make Apollo 11 a reality 55 years ago.”

How to see the full moon

If local weather conditions permit, the full moon will be visible to those in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Petro said. To optimally observe the moon, 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 see the full moon, but a telescope or a pair of binoculars could enhance its features — the dark areas that can be seen on the moon are “vast flows of volcanic lava that are billions of years old,” Petro said.

“Even with the naked eye… you can begin to see the story of the moon in front of you. And that’s one of the reasons I love studying the Moon – is that it’s out there for people to see,” she added. “On a beautiful clear night with a full moon, you can see differences in color, differences in the surface that go back to the history of the moon.”

To the average observer, the full moon will look similar to almost every other full moon, Petro said. But each full moon varies from month to month due to its slightly changeable orientation, known as librationand the change in distance from Earth in its elliptical orbit. To observe the different perspectives, Petro recommends taking a photo of each lunar event as it occurs and then comparing it to the next.

And for those who want to glimpse other celestial bodies, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus can also be observed in the early morning hours of July, according to NASA’s monthly report. highlights to observe the sky video.

Lunar discoveries

from NASA Artemis Program aims to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The space agency plans to establish the first lunar outpost and further explore the Moon, contributing to new discoveries about our closest celestial neighbor.

Recently, scientists confirmed the first direct evidence of a cave on the Moon using NASA radar data. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiterwhich has been collecting data since its launch in June 2009. Researchers discovered the cave connected to a well found within a vast plain called Mare Tranquillitatisor Sea of ​​Tranquility, the same region where the Apollo 11 astronauts landed in 1969.

“When we went to the Moon 55 years ago, we knew very little about it – we didn’t know how old it was, how it formed, the processes that changed it throughout its life,” said Petro, who is also the Lunar project scientist. Reconnaissance Orbiter and Artemis III.

“Every time we learn something new about the Moon, whether it’s about caves on the lunar surface or samples that are returned… we also realize how little we (still) know about the Moon.”

Discoveries about the Moon help us better understand other planets, Petro added. NASA hopes new lunar revelations will lead to first human being stepping on Mars.

Petro recommends observing the full moon with these recent discoveries and future space missions in mind. And if you miss this full moon, there’s always the next one, he added.

Remaining moons of 2024

There are five more full moons ready to shine this year, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. Here are the peak dates:

August 19: Sturgeon Moon

September 17: full moon

October 17: Hunter’s Moon

November 15: Beaver Moon

December 15: Cold Moon

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