Overview

• The moon will reach peak illumination at 4:37 p.m. ET on July 10 but won’t rise in the southeast until shortly after sunset, offering skywatchers a clear two-night window to observe it.
• Coming just days after Earth’s aphelion, this full moon will be the most distant from the sun in 2025, making its appearance slightly smaller in true size.
• A Major Lunar Standstill—an event that occurs every 18.6 years—will tilt the moon’s path low across the horizon, enhancing its prominence at moonrise.
• Skywatchers can expect the Moon Illusion to magnify its size at the horizon, and Rayleigh scattering may tint it reddish-gold when it appears low in the sky.
• Also known as the Salmon Moon, Berry Moon and Thunder Moon, the Buck Moon’s names derive from 19th-century almanacs that adapted Indigenous and agrarian seasonal lore.