Stunning images show July’s Buck supermoon light up skies around the world

Stunning images show July’s full Buck supermoon lighting up skies around the world, including London, Istanbul and San Francisco.

The first supermoon of 2023 was seen in all its glory on Sunday evening before reaching its full phase in the morning.

The Buck Moon served as the perfect backdrop for some of the world’s most iconic landmarks in an extraordinary series of photos from around the world.

In London, the fiery orange supermoon was seen above Britain’s tallest building – The Shard, while in Egypt it was seen behind the pyramids of Giza.

Notable photos from San Francisco also showed excited stargazers taking in the moon over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Meanwhile in Turkey, there was a sublime view of the supermoon over the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul.

The impressive spectacle takes place as the moon reaches its full phase, which occurs every 29.5 days.

But since this is a supermoon, our lunar satellite will look 5.8 percent larger and shine 12.8 percent brighter than a regular full moon, Starwalk claims.

This is because the moon arrives at its closest point to Earth at 224,895 miles (361,934 km) — about 13,959 miles (22,466 km) closer than normal.

A supermoon occurs when the full moon almost coincides with perigee, the point in the moon’s orbit at which the moon is closest to Earth.

Its proximity enhances the brightness and size in the night sky from our planet, while on the moon it would appear the same as normal. The last was in August 2022.

Since the supermoon takes place in July, it is called the “Full Buck Moon” – a name given by the Native Americans.

‘Buck’ refers to young male deer that grow new antlers each year in early July.

In the Southern Hemisphere, this phase is also referred to as the “Wolf Moon” or the “Ice Moon,” while the Celtics called it the Moon of Claiming.

Meanwhile, some Asian cultures call it the “Hungry Ghost Moon,” which will be celebrated in August.

As part of the Hungry Ghost Festival, people generally present food offerings to the souls of the dead who are believed to roam the area.

These perishable goods are among the gold and other goods that many believe will prevent souls from harming.

Conspiracy theories have surrounded supermoons and full moons for a long time, with some doubt about whether they can affect your emotions or even make people more violent.

The belief that the moon influences human health first emerged in early folklore, Royal Museums Greenwich reports, with common appeal being more sleep problems and seizures.

While the scientific basis for such links is weak, some recent studies claim to have found a link between the moon and sleep.

In 2021, scientists at Yale and the University of Washington found that people generally have more trouble falling asleep during a full moon.

This was related to differences in light intensity that prevented falling asleep in the early hours of the night.

The study explained: ‘In this context, it is primarily moonlight available during the early hours of the night that is more likely to cause changes in sleep onset.

“Moonlight, on the other hand, late at night, when most people are usually asleep, should have little impact on sleep onset or duration.”

While July 3rd will see the first supermoon of the year, the next one isn’t too far off.

It is expected to take place on August 1 at 6:31 PM GMT (2:31 PM EDT).

There will be a number of astronomical events in the coming month, including the peak of five meteor showers.

Observers in the Northern Hemisphere can expect to see July’s pegasids around July 23, with a maximum of five meteors per hour.

This will kick up a notch by July 30, as the Southern Aquarids will peak with a shower of about 25 meteors every hour.