Buck Moon: July Full Moon Phases

Full Moon Names

July is the month of the Full Buck Moon.

Bucks begin to grow new antlers at this time. This full Moon was also known as the Thunder Moon, because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.

See all Full Moon names and their meanings.

Moon Phase Dates July 2014

All dates and times are ET. See the Moon Phase Calendar for your city/state.

	First Quarter: July 5, 7:59 A.M.
	Full Moon: July 12, 7:25 A.M.
	Last Quarter: July 18, 10:08 P.M.
	New Moon: July 26, 6:42 P.M.

For your next full Moon, see our Full Moon Dates chart.

Full Moon Video

Each month, we will explain the traditional names of the full Moon along with some fascinating Moon facts. This month, learn about the Full Buck Moon, why July is such an important month in Moon history, and how scientists measure the distance from Earth to the Moon. Click below to watch video.

Best Days in July 2014

Below are the best days for activities, based on the Moon's sign and phase in July.

For Cutting Hay:

17, 18

For Setting Eggs:

13, 14

For Fishing:

1–12, 26–31

See Best Days for more activities.

Moon Facts & Folklore

The Moon displays two superbly tight conjunctions this month. First, it floats just below zero-magnitude Mars on the 5th, with blue Spica close by on the left. Then, on the 7th, it's very close to Saturn, with the pair highest at nightfall in the south.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step foot on the Moon. He also placed the U.S. flag there.
On July 31, 1999, The ashes of astrogeologist Eugene Shoemaker were deposited on the Moon.

Share your thoughts about this month's Moon below!

More Articles:

Comments

The Buck Moon is beautiful

reply

By Robin Godwin

The Buck Moon is beautiful over the Gulf here in Florida but it can't compare with it's beauty and size in mountainous Afghanistan. I have a friend working there and he says you can almost reach out and touch it, and he can see everything else in the sky clearly. No wonder our Ancient Astronomers learned so much about our Solar System. They could accurately see everything before electricity illuminated the world and caused it to fade out of view. Happy Star Gazing.

I think the Royal Baby is

reply

By Michelle Quaife

I think the Royal Baby is going to be born on this Full Buck Moon and its going to be a boy!

Me and my friends were out

reply

By Alex redding

Me and my friends were out tOnight we look at the moon and it started looking at the moon.it started going up and down it was really weird I don't know what was happening it kept going up and down for 20 min. Did anyone see this tonight I live in caolifornia by the way.

The Moon does rise and set,

reply

By Almanac Staff

The Moon does rise and set, but it travels smoothly across the sky. Sometimes the clouds make it seem as if the Moon is moving up and down, but this is a trick of the eye.

I think the weather tonight

reply

By Kyle

I think the weather tonight in my area is supposed to be clear skies. So I might get a chance to see The Full Buck Moon. I also heard that deer are most active at The Full Moon.

There's this really amazing

reply

By Catherine Boeckmann

There's this really amazing picture of deer on the OFA Facebook page of "a buck in velvet (growing it's new antlers) last evening when we were watching that almost Full Buck Moon rise!!!!" Thought you'd love it. See: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150262062817682&set=o.140372565772&type=1&theater