The seventh full moon of 2024—the “Buck Moon”—will grace the early evening skies this coming week as it rises in the east just as the sun sets in the west. Named the “Buck Moon”—but also known as the “Thunder Moon” and the “Hay Moon”—here’s everything you need to know about it, including exactly when, where and how to see it at its best from where you are:

When Is The ‘Buck Moon?’ The “Buck Moon” will turn full at 10:17 UTC/6:17 a.m. EDT on Sunday, July 21, but from North America, the best time to watch it rise will be at moonrise the previous evening.

The full moon will look its biggest and best as it appears on the eastern horizon during dusk. For about 15-20 minutes, it will appear orange. That’s because you’re looking at it through the densest part of Earth’s atmosphere.

Long-wavelength red and orange light travels more easily through the atmosphere than short-wavelength blue light, which strikes more particles and gets scattered. The same physics (Raleigh scattering) explains why a sunset looks orange.

"The full Moon in July is called the Buck Moon because the antlers of male deer (bucks) are in full-growth mode at this time," as The Old Farmer's Almanac says. "Bucks shed and regrow their antlers each year, producing a larger and more impressive set as the years go by."

The name "Buck Moon" arises from a traditional name from the Algonquin tribes, according to a NASA July 2021 moon guide, in what is now the northeastern United States, eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. That said, the moon may not be called the same name by all Algonquin peoples or by all Indigenous cultures; for example, another name attributed to the Algonquin for the July moon is the Thunder Moon. Rao names a few other Indigenous July moon names in his column.

Europeans (traditional) called this the Hay Moon due to the haymaking season, and sometimes the Mead Moon. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains may call July's moon the Guru Full Moon (Guru Purnima), "celebrated as a time for clearing the mind and honoring the guru or spiritual master," NASA said.

Theravada Buddhists may call July's moon the Asalha Puha (also known as Dharma Day or Esala Poya – a festival celebrating Buddha's first sermon, NASA said). July's moon also marks the beginning of a three-month annual Buddhist retreat called Vassa.

July's full moon has also been called the Full Thunder Moon and the Full Hay Moon, as July is considered to be the season with the most frequent thunderstorms and the time of year when farmers harvest, bale and stow hay for the upcoming winter.

July Moon names from different cultures Raptor Moon (Hopi). Smoky Moon (Maidu). Ripe Moon (San Juan). Crane Moon (Choctaw). Claiming Moon (Celtic). Rose Moon (Neo Pagan). Peaches Moon (Natchez). Ducks Moult Moon (Cree). Ripening Moon (Mohawk). Grass Cutter Moon (Abernaki). Buffalo Bellow Moon (Omaha). Hungry Ghost Moon (Chinese). Ripe Squash Moon (Algonquin). Raspberry Moon (Anishnaabe). Salmon River moon (Wishram). Mead Moon (Medieval English). Middle Summer Moon (Ponca). Middle Summer Moon (Dakota). Red Berries moon (Assiniboine).

Young Corn Moon (Potawatomi). Buffalo Bellows Moon (Arapaho). Wild Red Cherries Moon (Sioux). Corn Popping moon (Winnebago). Ripening Moon (Passamaquoddy). Horse Moon, Ripe Moon (Apache). Summer Moon (Colonial American). Dropping Deer Horns Moon (Kiowa). Ripe Corn Moon, Hay Moon (Cherokee). Sun House Moon (Taos Native American). Claiming moon (Full Janic), Blessing Moon (Dark Janic). Little Harvest Moon, Blackberry Moon, Little Ripening Moon (Creek). Hay Moon, Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, Summer Moon (Algonquin).

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June's full "Strawberry Moon" rises one day after the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. This will be the lowest full moon of the year.

The full moon's closeness to the date of the solstice, or the start of the astronomical summer, has a noticeable visual effect. Since a full moon sits opposite the sun relative to Earth, it mirrors the sun's position in the sky. In June — and particularly close to the solstice — the sun is at its highest of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Its position at midday on the solstice, on June 20 this year, is the highest it ever gets. That makes the full moon the following day the lowest of the year.

It's also the farthest full moon from the sun of the year. That's because the Earth's slightly elliptical orbit of the sun takes it farthest away on July 5. That point is Earth's annual aphelion. Therefore, the closest full moon to that date must be the moon's annual aphelion.

June's full moon is often referred to as the Strawberry Moon because it falls during the strawberry harvesting season in the northeastern U.S. Similarly, June's full moon has also been called the Rose Moon because it occurs around the time roses bloom.

However, this month's full moon has also gone by several other names, including Mead Moon, Honey Moon, Flower Moon, Hot Moon, Hoe Moon, and the Planting Moon, all of which stem from European or Native American origin and represent various milestones of the summer season, according to NASA.

The nicknames Mead Moon or Honey Moon represent the time in June when honey is ready for harvesting. Mead, or honey wine, is a drink created by fermenting honey mixed with water and sometimes with fruits, spices, grains or hops. Rising around the time honey is harvested, the June full moon is often considered the "sweetest" moon of the year. Subsequently, the term "honeymoon" can be traced back to the tradition of marrying in June and the joyfulness of the first month of marriage.

Native American Names for June Moon Leaves Moon (Cree). Ripe Berries (Dakota). Hoer moon (Abernaki). Windy Moon (Choctaw). Summer moon (Kiowa). Buffalo Moon (Omaha). Leaf Moon (Assiniboine). Corn Tassel Moon(Taos). Green grass Moon(Sioux). Ripening Moon (Mohawk). Turtle Moon (Potawatomi). Making fat Moon (Lakota).Leaf Dark Moon (San Juan). Major Planting Moon (Hopi). Planting Moon (Neo Pagan). Fish Spoils Moon (Wishram). Water melon Moon (Natchez). Hot Weather moon (Arapaho). Dyad Moon (Medieval English). Strawberry Moon (Anishnaabe). Dark green leaves Moon (Pueblo). Summer Moon (Passamaquoddy). Green Corn Moon, Flower Moon (Cherokee). Mead Moon (Full Janic), Strawberry moon (Dark Janic). Honey Moon, Hot Moon, Strawberry Moon, Rose Moon (Algonquin).

Other Moon names : Hay Moon, Aerra Litha Moon, Strong Sun Moon, Lovers Moon Hot weather moon (Ponca).

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The U.S. House passed a bill to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf. Precedent tells us that if this becomes law, it could prove fatal for wolf recovery efforts.

Long, long ago, gray wolves roamed and howled in every state in the Lower 48 (before states were states). The wolf howled in Alaska, too, and the animal’s population there remains healthy.

Sixty years ago, the wolf was intentionally exterminated from the continental U.S., except for small packs that managed to hang on in the northern parts of Minnesota and Michigan.

Today, wolves are in 13 states – California is the latest state that’s been reclaimed by wolves. They have slowly regained turf and in doing so have rewilded habitats. This recovery is in part augmented by an evolving appreciation and understanding of wolves and their importance in the natural world.

The recovery of wolves was also assisted by the Endangered Species Act, which protected gray wolves in 1974.

The big bad bill to re-eradicate wolves



But now a U.S. House bill essentially says ‘enough is enough’ and seeks to halt efforts to recover this wild animal. Introduced by Rep. Boebert (Colo.), the bill also tells us, or so it seems, that our evolving understanding of wolves remains a work in process.

On the last day of April, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Boebert bill, voting to strip away Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves – no matter what the science says, no matter what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determines, no matter what’s happening with wolf populations. It passed in the House by the hair of the little pig’s chinny chin chin, 209-205, and now is in the Senate.

What will happen if the bill becomes law?

Recent precedent suggests it won’t be pretty if protections are stripped. Look no further than the states where wolves were delisted in the past. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Wisconsin all unleashed devastating wolf eradication policies. When wolves temporarily lost their protections in Wisconsin, 216 were killed in less than 60 hours.

The Northern Rockies states are the one place where wolves aren’t on the endangered species list. The region has witnessed wolf kills not seen in a century. Bait, neck snares, helicopters and night hunting with spotlights have all been used to diminish wolf populations. Idaho’s law allows up to 90% of the state’s wolves to be killed.



Which states have wolves, and what’s needed to help the animal recover?

Here are the states with established or semi-established gray wolf populations: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. Plus, there are Mexican gray wolves, a sub-population of the gray wolf, in Arizona and New Mexico.

Additionally, Colorado voters chose to reintroduce wolves, and some have now been released. Time will tell if they create an established pack, but the state certainly has the habitat and the backing of voters to make it happen. Finally, there’s chatter about whether Maine has wolves. Certainly it and other states have been blessed on occasion with a wandering wolf or two, visiting from somewhere else.

Animosity toward wolves is understandable. Think Little Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs and more. Wolves are predators.

But here’s the counter vision. Our lives are better in a world filled with beauty and nature. Howling wolves are a rich, important part of this vision. So let’s help the species continue to recover and rewild our planet.

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Stargazers are in for a treat this week: The full moon returns for its May engagement, peaking on Thursday morning.

May’s full moon is known as the flower moon, a reference to its appearance in late spring, when many flowering plants begin to bloom again after their winter slumber. The glowing orb will reach maximum illumination on Thursday at 9:53 a.m. ET, according to NASA.

The best time to view the moon, though, is at night on Wednesday and Thursday, since it will be below the horizon during its peak in some regions, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. The flower moon will begin to rise after sunset on Wednesday, reaching its highest point after midnight, per EarthSky.

In some parts of the world, including the Washington, DC area, the full moon will come so close to the bright star Antares on Thursday night that the star will appear to vanish behind the moon, according to NASA.

The flower moon name is thought to have originated among the Algonquin people who live in Canada and parts of the northeastern United States, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. But ancient groups coined several creative names for May’s full moon that mark the arrival of warmer weather and the new life that grows during the spring.

Its old English name is “milk moon,” according to NASA, a reference to the archaic English word for the month we now call May. The eighth-century monk St. Bede the Venerable referred to May as the month of three milkings –– in the medieval era, people believed that cows could be milked at least three times daily in late spring.

Other names for May’s full moon include “frog moon,” from the Cree people of Canada’s North Plains — likely a nod to the spring peeper frog and its birdlike chirp, which is a harbinger of warm weather. The Dakota and Lakota people of the US Great Plains also called the celestial spectacle the “planting moon” to mark the agricultural practice of planting in the spring for a healthy harvest.

May Moon Names

Frog Moon (Cree). Ponies shed (Sioux). Bright moon (Celtic). Waiting Moon (Hopi). Mulberry Moon (Greek). Ninth Moon (Wishram). Idle Moon (Assiniboine). Big Leaf Moon (Mohawk). Panther Moon (Choctaw). Grass Moon (Neo-Pagan). Planting Moon (Cherokee). Corn Planting Moon (Taos). Little Corn Moon (Natchez). Green Leaf Moon (Apache). Corn Weed Moon(Agonquin). Field Maker Moon (Abernaki). Blossom Moon (Anishnaabe). Shaggy Hair Moon (Arapaho). Green Leaves Moon (Dakota). Fat Horses Moon (Cheyenne).

Leaf Tender Moon (San Juan). Hare Moon (Medieval English). Milk Moon (Colonial American). Strawberry Moon (Potawatomi). Hoeing Corn Moon (Winnebago). Alewive Moon (Passamaquoddy). Ninth Moon (Dark Janic), Mothers Moon (Full Janic). Flower Moon, Corn Plant Moon, Milk Moon (Algonquin).

Other Moon names : Frogs Return Moon, Sproutkale Moon, Dyad Moon, Merry Moon, Joy Moon

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Jane Goodall and Leonardo DiCaprio are set to produce Howl – a live-action film about an abandoned family dog and a young wolf, told from the two animals’ point of view.

The highly esteemed environmentalist and the award-winning actor are friends and have collaborated previously on fundraising and conservation efforts via their respective nonprofits – the Jane Goodall Institute and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation.

Howl is the first from Promethean Pictures, a label founded by Argo Films’ Richard Johns, and will be directed by E. Elias Merhige (Shadow of the Vampire), written by Christopher Monger (Temple Grandin), and filmed by Doug Allan (Frozen Planet).

The film follows a former family dog as he meets and eventually bonds with a wild wolf, with human characters present but mostly in the background. Howl is not explicitly an environmental film, but the filmmakers aim to provide a transformative view of the natural world through the animal-led story, as reported by Deadline.

“Howl will not only be an enjoyable and entertaining experience but will also help change perceptions of the ‘big bad wolf,’ which has been hunted to extinction in many areas of the world and is threatened and endangered in many others,” Goodall told Deadline.

“I hope we can make people understand their need to live alongside us and show these sacred creatures for what they are,” she added.

Wolf populations have always been a source of friction between those who hope to rewild and protect the predatory species and those who seek to limit, cull, or eradicate them. In the US, their protection status varies wildly from location to location and state to state.

In recent years, the relaxing of restrictions around the killing of wolves has resulted in hundreds of deaths. From 2022 to 2023 in Idaho alone, hunters killed more than 560 wolves, prompting conservation groups such as the Humane Society to launch legal action.

In Europe, wolves have already been successfully reintroduced, while environmentalist groups in the UK argue that they should be brought back to Britain, too. Rewilding Europe highlights the need for people to re-learn how to live alongside apex predators like wolves with a healthy respect and the admiration that keystone species, in particular, deserve.

It sounds like Howl could touch on this theme of coexistence with wolves, and Executive Producer Jennifer Davisson said, “We hope this film encourages people to understand and appreciate the inextricable relationship between us humans and the natural wildlife that surrounds us.”

Howl is currently in production and is expected sometime in 2026.

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