July's full moon will peak just in time for the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Zvonimir Parisin/Pixel/Devodi Images/Getty Images

The July full moon, nicknamed the Black Moon, will peak early Sunday morning. The Black Moon will be visible at its peak above the horizon in Split, Croatia, on July 3, 2023.

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July’s full moon will shine in the sky this week — and it’s approaching the anniversary of a special lunar event worth celebrating.

The full moon — nicknamed the black moon — will peak at 6:17 a.m. ET on Sunday, according to Old Farmer’s AlmanacIt’s called the Deer Moon because male deer’s antlers are fully grown at this time of year, according to the calendar.

But since the moon appears full for a few days a month around its peak, the best time to view it might be Saturday to celebrate its 55th anniversary. Apollo 11 moon landingIt is the first space mission to carry humans to the moon, said Noah Petro, head of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Laboratory.

“The first moon landing was in the afternoon on July 20, 1969, and then they walked on the moon that night,” Petro said. “There’s no better way to celebrate that than to go out and look at the full moon and celebrate it.” Neil Armstrong“And a big thank you to Buzz (Aldrin), Michael Collins, and all the people who helped make Apollo 11 a reality 55 years ago.”

If local weather conditions permit, the full moon will be visible to those in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, Pietro said. To get the best view of the moon, he recommends finding a spot with a clear view of the sky, away from tall buildings and trees. Even in cities with heavy light pollution, the moon will be visible in a clear night sky.

No equipment is needed to view the full moon, but a pair of binoculars or a pair of telescopes can enhance its features — the dark areas visible on the moon are “massive lava flows that are billions of years old,” Petro said.

“Even with the naked eye… you can start to see the history of the moon right in front of you. That’s one of the reasons I love studying the moon – it’s out there for people to see,” he added. “On a clear, beautiful, full moon, you can see the differences in color, you can see the differences in the surface that are all due to the history of the moon.”

To the average observer, the young moon will look almost like any other full moon, Pietro said. But each full moon is different from month to month, due to its slightly changing orientation, known as vibrationand the variable distance from the ground in elliptical orbitTo observe different perspectives, Pietro recommends taking a photo of each lunar event as it happens and then comparing it to the next one.

For those looking to catch a glimpse of other celestial bodies, Saturn, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus can also be observed in the early morning hours during July, according to NASA’s monthly report. Highlights of Sky Watching video.

NASA Artemis Program It aims to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The space agency plans to create the first Lunar site And continue to explore the Moon, contributing to new discoveries about our closest celestial neighbor.

Scientists have recently confirmed the first direct evidence of a cave on the Moon using radar data from a NASA probe. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiterwhich has been collecting data since its launch in June 2009. Researchers discovered the cave connected to a crater located within a vast plain called calm seaor the Sea of Tranquility, the same area where Apollo 11 astronauts landed in 1969.

“When we went to the Moon 55 years ago, we knew very little about it — we didn’t know how old it was, how it formed, and the processes that changed it over its lifetime,” said Pietro, who is also a project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Artemis III.

“Every time we learn something new about the Moon, whether it’s caves on the Moon or samples that are returned… we also realize how little we know (so far) about the Moon.”

Petro added that discoveries about the moon help us better understand other planets. NASA hopes that more lunar discoveries will lead to the first human mission. Set foot on Mars.

Petro recommends watching the full moon with these recent findings and future space missions in mind. If you miss this one, there’s always the next one, he added.