JACKSON, Wyo. — Today, July 13 the biggest and brightest full moon of the year will rise over Jackson Hole.
This month the full moon is also a supermoon, meaning the moon will appear bigger and brighter because the moon is near its closest approach to Earth. To be a supermoon the moon is less than 360,000 kilometers (ca. 223,694 miles) from the center of Earth.
June was also a supermoon but July’s full moon is even closer to earth. According to Old Farmer’s Almanac, at its nearest point, the Buck Moon will be 222,089.3 miles (357,418 km) from Earth, edging out Junes full moon by 200km.
The best time to see the full moon is right after moonrise when the moon is close to the horizon, appearing biggest and brightest. Moonrise tonight is at 9:43 p.m.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, July’s full moon is called the Buck Moon because the antlers of male deer—bucks—are growing at this time. Bucks shed and regrow their antlers each year, producing a larger set of antlers as they age.
“Other names for this month’s moon also reference animals, including Feather Moulting Moon (Cree), and Salmon Moon, a Tlingit term indicating when fish returned to the area and were ready to be harvested,” says the almanac. “”Thunder Moon (Western Abenaki)” and Halfway Summer Moon (Anishinaabe) refer to the stormy weather and summer season.”
“Plants are also featured prominently in July’s Moon names,” says the almanac. “Some of our favorites are Berry Moon (Anishinaabe), Moon When the Chokecherries are Ripe (Dakota), Month of the Ripe Corn Moon (Cherokee), and Raspberry Moon (Algonquin, Ojibwe).”
