Moon Phases

The July full moon is the beautiful Buck Moon

Posted by
John Jardine Goss
and
July 28, 2026
A disk, the full moon, hangs above the wavy line of the horizon.
The July full moon will lie low above the horizon in the late evening on July 28. It’s the Buck Moon and the crest of the full moon falls at 9:36 CDT on July 29, 2026.

When to watch in 2026: The full moon comes on June 29 for the Americas, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia. And it falls on June 30 for Australia and New Zealand. Same full moon for all of Earth … but different time zones.
Crest of the full moon: will fall at 14:36 UTC (9:36 a.m. CDT) on July 29, 2026. And it’s 2:36 a.m. New Zealand Standard Time on July 30. So, if you live in either North or South America, your fullest moon hangs low above the western horizon at sunrise on July 29. But it will also look full as it rises on the evenings of July 28 and 29.
Where to look: Full moons are always opposite the sun. They must be, in order to look full. For all of us on Earth, the full moon will rise in the east just after sunset on those evenings. And it will appear highest in the sky in the middle of the night, and set in the west at dawn.

Chart showing, all in a row, a large starred dot representing the sun, a dot representing Earth, and a small dot representing the moon.
At full moon, the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned with Earth in the middle. The moon’s day side – its fully lighted hemisphere – directly faces us.

July’s full moon is the Buck Moon

All the full moons have names. Popular nicknames for the July full moon include the Thunder Moon and Hay Moon … and there are lots more.

But the Buck Moon is the most common name for us in North America for the July full moon. Male deer start growing their antlers when they’re about a year old. The antlers take about 120 days, or about 4 months, to mature.

By July, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the antlers of male deer are growing fast. Sometimes they grow as fast as several inches per day. They are fully mature in fall. So, to honor the deer and the July full moon, the July full moon is the Buck Moon.

This July full moon mimics the late January sun

All full moons throughout the year have their own unique characteristics, often related to their paths across the sky. The full moon’s nighttime path mimics the sun’s daytime path from six months ago, or in six months from now. So, for all of us on Earth, the July full moon will follow the path the sun took in January. And, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the January sun arched low, so we see the July full moon riding low in the sky.

In fact, in most years, again for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the path across the sky of July’s full moon is lower than any other, except the path of the full moon of June. Because it is lower, it also spends less time in the sky, except for June’s full moon.

Even north of the Arctic Circe, the July full moon follows the path of the low Arctic January sun. As seen from the Arctic, the July full moon appears above the horizon only briefly. In regions closer to the North Pole, it never rises at all.

Two charts: The first one shows a disk, the January sun, moving across the sky in a low arc above a wavy line representing the horizon. Another, but higher arc shows a disk, the July sun, moving across the sky. The second chart shows a disk, the January full moon, moving across the sky in a high arc, and another disk, the July full moon, moving in a lower arc above a wavy line representing the horizon.
For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the low arc across the sky of the July full moon nearly matches that of the January sun. The arc of the July sun is always much higher than the arc of the July full moon.

Arc of the July full moon in the Southern Hemisphere

For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the July full moon’s arc across the sky reaches not quite as high as June’s since it matches the path of the January sun.

Two charts: The first one shows a disk, the July full moon, moving across the sky in a high arc above a wavy line representing the horizon. Another, but lower arc shows a disk, the January full moon, moving across the sky. The second chart shows a disk, the January sun, moving across the sky in a high arc, and another disk, the July sun, moving in a lower arc above a wavy line representing the horizon.
For observers in the Southern Hemisphere, the high arc across the sky of the July full moon nearly matches that of the January sun. The arc of the July sun is always much lower than the arc of the July full moon.

July full moon lies in western Capricornus in 2026

And what of our whole-Earth perspective on the moon?

The orderliness of the heavens is such that in July the full moon always lies in front of one of two constellations of the zodiac. In most years, the July full moon appears in front of Sagittarius the Archer, which most stargazers recognize as a Teapot. This year, though, the July full moon is in front of the neighboring constellation to the east, Capricornus the Sea Goat. It is found in a dark sky in the shape of an arrowhead.

Chart showing an arrow passing disk representing Earth then passing a smaller disk representing the moon.
The 2026 July full moon falls in the morning of July 29 and lies in the constellation Capricornus.

Will you recognize the arrowhead shape among the stars near the full moon? Probably not, because the full moon’s bright light will wash fainter stars from view. But you don’t need to see Capricornus’ arrowhead to know it’s there … or to know that the stars lie beyond the moon in space. As Earth orbits the sun, our planet’s night side points out on a shifting panorama of stars. And so the moon returns year after year to this quiet corner of the heavens. This is not by chance, but by the rhythms of Earth and sky.

Seven small dots, faint stars, left of a round disk, the full moon. They are all above a wavy line, the horizon.
July’s full Buck Moon near the faint stars of the arrowhead shape of Capricornus.

Bottom line: July’s full moon – the Buck Moon – falls on the morning of July 29, but will also appear full when it rises in the evening on July 28 and 29. Like all July full moons, it rides low in the sky.

Posted 
July 28, 2026
 in 
Moon Phases

John Jardine Goss

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About the Author:
“I can sometimes see the moon in the daytime” was a cosmic revelation that John Jardine Goss first discovered through personal observations at age 6. It shook his young concept of the universe and launched his interest in astronomy and stargazing, a fascination he still holds today. John is past president of the Astronomical League, the largest U.S. federation of astronomical societies, with over 24,000 members. He's earned the title of Master Observer and is a regular contributor to the video series, “Global Star Party.” He has authored the celestial observing guides “Exploring the Starry Realm,” and “Carpe Lunam,” and “Take Your First Steps, an Introduction to Amateur Astronomy.” John also wrote for twenty years the monthly stargazing column, Roanoke Skies, for the Roanoke Times, and currently writes a bimonthly column, Skywatch, for Blue Ridge Country magazine. He has contributed to Sky and Telescope magazine, the IDA Nightscape, the Astronomical League’s Reflector magazine, and the RASC Observer’s Handbook.

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