July’s full moon will rise over mostly clear skies in the UK on Thursday, offering sky gazers a great opportunity to witness the celestial event. The full moon, known as the Buck Moon, will officially reach its peak illumination at 9:37 pm BST (4:37 pm ...

The July full moon shone brightly over Greece's 2,500-year-old Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion late Thursday. (AP video: Srdjan Nedeljkovic)

Skywatchers may have a harder time spotting July's full moon in Iowa. The evening of Wednesday, July 9, is expected to have 50-80% cloud cover across the state with some thunderstorms possible starting in western Iowa around 10 p.m. and moving across the state through the night, according to the National Weather Service.

This year, the Buck Moon follows Earth's aphelion, the point in its orbit farthest from the Sun, by just a few days, according to Space.com. That makes it the full moon farthest from the Sun in 2025, a result of orbital geometry rather than distance from Earth.