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Tonight’s Buck Moon Is Happening During the Best Meteor Shower of the Year

News Astronomy
by Olivia Harden Jul 23, 2021

A special astronomical event is taking to the sky tonight and will be visible until Sunday morning. The buck moon will be visible after sundown on July 23, but will best light up the sky at 10:37 PM ET, according to NASA. For those in Newfoundland, Greenland, and further east, the moon will actually be the most visible on Saturday, July 24.

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northeastern US named this particular full moon the “buck moon” in relation to the time when male deer, or buck, grow new antlers. It is also called the “thunder moon.”

The Europeans call it the “hay moon” for the hay-making season, or the “mead moon” for the drink made during that time of the year.

Whatever you decide to call it, keep your eyes on the night sky tonight. If you manage to find a place with no light pollution, you might even catch a shooting star or two from the Perseid meteor shower, which will be here until August 24, 2021.

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