July full Buck Moon peaks, visible with nearby planets

The Full Buck Moon will peak on July 29, 2026, at 10:36 a.m. Eastern Time, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac and reported by CNN. The moon will rise in the east and will still look full for hours before and after its peak; EarthSky notes it will appear low in the Northern Hemisphere and higher in the Southern Hemisphere, though not as high as June’s full moon. Sky conditions matter more than the exact minute, NASA Goddard scientist Noah Petro said, and Pamela Gay of the Planetary Science Institute warned that smoke from Canadian wildfires may give the moon a reddish or orange tint for observers in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Full moons often follow the sun’s daytime arc from six months earlier and six months later, EarthSky explains, so the buck moon’s path will resemble the sun’s January arc. The buck moon’s name links to midsummer antler growth and to Indigenous names such as the Dakota and Cree variants recorded by The Old Farmer’s Almanac. The event comes days after the 57th anniversary of Apollo 11 and follows public interest in lunar exploration highlighted by the Artemis II mission, Petro said.