Stargazers were in for a treat on 10 July as the first full moon of summer 2025 (aka the Buck Moon) created an unusual illusion in the night sky.A 'moon illusion' is a striking phenomenon that plays tricks on the mind,

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.

July 2025's Full Moon occurs at exactly 20:39 UTC, or 4:39 p.m. EDT, on the 10th. This view of the Buck Moon was captured by Matt Melnyk on July 13, 2022 from Calgary, Alberta, and uploaded to The Weather Network's UGC gallery.

Look to the skies on Thursday night and you can see something unusual: the ‘Moon illusion’, which happens when our satellite is low on the horizon. On July 10, the full moon will rise… but not that high, as it will stay closer to the ground than we’re used to.

In an unexpected twist, Earth's spin is set to accelerate in July and August, leading to the shortest days on record - with July 9, July 22 and August 5 tipped to lose precious milliseconds

Earth could complete a full rotation around the Sun on Wednesday (July 9) nearly 1.30 milliseconds faster than on average days.