The first supermoon of 2023 enlightened the sky all around the world on July 3, motivating photographic artists and skywatchers to turn their eyes to the sky.
The Buck Moon, July’s full moon, rose in New York at 7:10 p.m. EDT (2310 GMT) on Monday, July 3, and set at 4:33 a.m. EDT (0833 GMT) on Tuesday, July 4, just as Americans were getting ready to celebrate Independence Day.
This year’s Buck Moon, named after the buck deer, which grow their antlers in July, attracted astrophotographers of all levels to capture the stunning celestial view against a variety of famous backdrops, including the Statue of Liberty in New York.
As it lit the copper torch of Lady Liberty, a symbol of enlightenment that is said to light the way to freedom and the path to Liberty, Gary Hershom caught the Buck supermoon glowing in orange and red.
Another picture that was taken from New York showed the supermoon shining over the city skyline with the Statue of Liberty looking over it covered in dark clouds.
Naturally, images of the full moon were not limited to appearing alongside historic structures in the United States. Many of the settlers who came to the United States during its history would have started their journeys across the Atlantic from the docks of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. Paul Ellis captured a stunning image of the Buck Moon hidden by dark clouds over the city of Liverpool in Merseyside’s Albert Dock and Liver building.
Likewise getting the supermoon feeling agonizing from the U.K. was Twitter client Veronica in the Fens, who, in spite of cloud inclusion, located the moon playing “surprise” over Ely House of God in Cambridgeshire.
Stefano Rellandini captured the July full moon in Paris over the Pont de Bercy, a bridge over the Seline River, with a plane passing through its face.
Saqib Majee saw the July full moon over the Indian summer capital of Srinagar in the territory of Jammu and Kashmir when he viewed the Buck Moon from a little bit further away.
Hussein Faleh saw the supermoon as it rose behind the extraordinary pine cone-like construction of the Basra Worldwide Arena in Iraq’s southern city of Basra.
Marwella Zhang, a space enthusiast, amateur space artist, and amateur photographer, shared an image of the supermoon she had taken at moonrise on her Twitter feed. While it lacks the vibrant colors of the other Buck Moon images, the image more than makes up for this in terms of its sheer detail.
If these Buck Moon supermoon images have inspired you to take your own pictures of a supermoon, you will have a lot of options to choose from in the months to come. The Buck Moon on July 2 was the first of four supermoons.
The Full Sturgeon Moon, the next supermoon, will occur on Tuesday, August 1. When the Blue Moon rises on August 30th, there will be a second supermoon in August. The Full Corn Moon, also the last supermoon of 2023, will bring an end to the series of supermoons on Sept. 28.
Our reviews of the best binoculars and telescopes are a great place to start if you want to see one of these supermoons.
Check out our guide on how to photograph the moon, as well as our list of the best astrophotography cameras and lenses, if you want to take pictures of the moon and the night sky in general.
