If you’re into sky watching, Wednesday night should be a highlight in your night viewing fun. It’s a Super Buck Moon.
The full moon in July is called the Buck Moon, simply because that’s the time of year when the male deer have their full growth antlers, an annual event since they shed and regrow them every year and they’re generally bigger and better, I suppose.
A super moon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to earth at the same time that the moon is full. When the pair happen simultaneously, the moon appears to be brighter and larger than at other times.
So that’s what’s happening Wednesday night and what will be visible depending on cloud cover and storms.
The brightest will happen at precisely 2:29 Wednesday afternoon, so of course not visible since the moon is still below the horizon in the afternoon. But you might be able to see it if you search the southeast sky just after sunset.
Hopefully you sky gazers can enjoy this one. And what’s more there will be another one on August 22. That moon is called the Sturgeon Moon, so named because of the great number of huge freshwater fish found in the lakes and rivers of North America. This year’s Sturgeon moon is also a Blue Moon, as in ‘once in a blue moon,’ but more about that in another story.
And there will also be lots of meteor showers going on in the sky starting this week and continuing until the beginning of August. You get to see them best the nights there are no moons.
