Catch 2023’s first supermoon in the sky over Prague tonight

You can see the first supermoon of 2023 tonight in Prague and across Czechia from anywhere with a clear sky. The buck moon, as the full moon for July is called, will rise on July 3 at 10:07 p.m. in the southeast, though it takes a few more minutes to rise above the buildings. This month’s moon gets its name from the time of year that male deer start to show antlers. It is also sometimes called the thunder moon, hay moon, or med moon.

Astronomers say a supermoon occurs when the moon is within 90 percent of its perigee, the closest possible approach to Earth. This also makes it appear brighter. It can sometimes catch an orange or red glow as its light passes through the sky near the horizon.

“Full moons are opposite the sun, so a full moon near the summer solstice will be low in the sky. Particularly for Europe's higher latitudes, when the full moon is low it shines through more atmosphere, making it more likely to have a reddish color (for the same reasons that sunrises and sunsets are red),” U.S. space agency NASA said.

Good places to see it include the observation points in Prague’s Letná park as well as the lookout points near Prague Castle. These will let you capture some of the historical center in Prague. But any elevated area with a clear view of the horizon will do.

The Štefánik Observatory (Štefánikova hvězdárna) on Petřín hill will be open from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. to observe various phenomena in the night sky. But the moon as always is visible without a telescope.

Tonight, the moon will be 99.8 percent full when it rises. On Sunday, July 2, it was 99.1 percent full and rose at just after 9 p.m., but was initially obscured by clouds.

The rest of the supermoons this year will be on Aug. 1, Aug, 31, and Sept. 29. Since August has two full moons, the second one is a calendrical blue moon, but its color will be normal. A second type of blue moon, called a seasonal blue moon, will not occur until 2024 according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.