The full moon of July, which is also known as Buck Moon, or Thunder Moon, will happen after midnight, on the 5th of July, on Sunday. The moon will reach its full phase at 12:44 a.m. EDT (0444 GMT). An eclipse will start 14 minutes earlier, and it seems that the moon will be within a few degrees of Jupiter.
The eclipse will be visible to observers from western Europe, Africa, and North America, and South America. Keep in mind that, in certain parts of Europe and Africa, the eclipse will take place at moonset, and in other places, like New Zealand and Hawaii, it will take place at moonrise. In the Americas, the eclipse will be visible in the middle of the night, when the moon will be at its highest in the sky.
The lunar eclipse happens when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth, and it passes through its shadow. We will be dealing with a penumbral eclipse, which is the one where the moon does not reach the darker part of the shadow of Earth. Saying it easier: if you’d be on the moon, you’d see the Earth partially eclipse the sun. So instead of getting completely dark, the moon will dim, and it will look a bit more brown-gray than the usual white. We are expecting the moon to be approximately half-covered by the penumbra when it reaches maximum eclipse.
When can you see the eclipse?
According to some sources, the eclipse will start at 11:07 p.m local time on the 4th of July, on Saturday. The moon will then be about 19.5 degrees above the south-southeastern horizon. And the maximum eclipse will take place at 2:29 a.m. on Sunday, and it will end at 1:52 a.m.
