See this month’s ‘supermoon’ in your evening sky

It’s a bird, it’s a plane … it’s a supermoon!

July’s supermoon, the satellite’s biggest appearance of 2022, will become visible again in the sky shortly after sunset Wednesday and through early Friday.

A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the satellite’s being at its closest point to Earth. It appears around 7% larger to the naked eye and shines brighter in the sky.

This supermoon, also called the “buck moon,” will be the biggest and brightest of 2022.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac explains that “at its nearest point, the Buck Moon will be 357,418 km from Earth,” edging out June’s “strawberry moon” by 200 km.

The buck moon will reach “peak illumination at 2:38 p.m. Eastern Time” Wednesday but will be below the horizon at that moment, according to the Almanac.

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The supermoon will be visible in the southeastern portion of the sky everywhere in the U.S. It will be a little brighter and clearer in the West though and everywhere subject to weather constraints, such as cloud and rain cover.

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a July supermoon is called the “buck moon” because that month is also when the antlers of male deer, also called bucks, are at their largest.

Another common name is the “thunder moon,” so named for summer storms.