SUPER BUCK MOON 2022: all you need to know about the biggest supermoon of 2022

🌕Supermoon 2022: The biggest and the brightest Moon of the year will illuminate the night skies tonight. The Moon will be a full Moon as well as a supermoon. This Moon is known as the Buck Supermoon. Sometimes, it is also called the Thunder Moon, Hay Moon or Mead Moon. 

At 9:00 am UTC on July 13 (2:30 pm IST), the Moon came near its closest approach to Earth. The Moon will officially turn full at 2:38 pm UTC on July 13 (12:08 am IST on July 14). In India, the supermoon will be visible after midnight.

According to NASA, the Moon will appear full for about three days till Friday. 

A supermoon is a full Moon that occurs when the Moon is at the perigee, the point closest to Earth in its orbit. Therefore, a supermoon always appears slightly brighter and larger than a normal full Moon.

📡How To Watch The July Buck Supermoon Online

The supermoon to appear tonight is the third of the four supermoons for 2022. 

People worldwide can watch the July Buck Supermoon live online. The astronomical phenomenon will be broadcast from Rome. 

The Virtual Telescope Project will start livestreaming the July Buck Supermoon on July 14 at 12:30 am IST.

🌝Why is July's full moon called the Buck Moon?

Like many other full moons, July's Buck Moon derives from Native Americans who first published its name in the Maine Farmer's Almanac in the 1930s.

"According to this almanac, as the full moon in July – the Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern United States called this full moon the Buck Moon," per NASA. "Early summer is normally when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. They also called this the Thunder Moon because of early summer's frequent thunderstorms."

In addition to "Buck," other titles for this moon include "Thunder Moon," "Mead Moon," and "Hay Moon." Europeans recognize this month's full moon as the latter because haymaking typically takes place in June and July, NASA noted.