Mark your calendars for the lunar event of the month, as July’s Buck Moon is set to rise over NYC on Thursday, July 10th. Here’s everything you need to know about the Buck Moon.
When will the Buck Moon reach peak illumination?
The Buck Moon will reach peak illumination at 4:37pm on Thursday, July 10th. Of course, New Yorkers will have a better view of the full moon once the sun goes down (~8:28pm) and around moonrise (just after 8:50pm).
The Buck Moon will appear full the night before and the night after, giving sky gazers three days to admire the moon’s “full” appearance.
Why is it called the Buck Moon?
The name originates from Native American, colonial American, and European sources. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, it stems from its correlation to the time of year when male deers’, also known as bucks, antlers are in “full-growth mode” after having shed their former antlers in late winter.
The Buck Moon is alternatively called the Salmon Moon or the Feather Moulting Moon.
What is the Tycho Crater?
Named after the Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, the Tycho Crater is one of the moon’s most visible and known impact craters. An impact crater is a round depression or hole that’s a result from the impact of an object from space (meteoroid, asteroid, etc.) colliding with a surface, in this case the moon. Think of Arizona’s Meteor Crater, for example.
The Tycho Crater is about 53 miles in diameter and 15,400 feet in depth—deep enough to stack more than 10 Empire State Building’s on top of each other.
When can you see the Tycho Crater?
The Tycho Crater has a ray system made up of bright streaks of debris, which radiate from the crater and stretch up to about 900 miles across the Moon. During full moons, the Tycho’s rays are most visible when sunlight directly reflects off the lunar surface. They can be naked to the visible eye but are enhanced through binoculars.