Taran Sohal Captures Buck Moon’s 15-Minute Trail Over Brisbane

Q: Since the Buck Moon is officially the year's dimmest, what optical trick made it appear so massive and bright globally?

It looked huge because of the **Moon illusion** — a well-known optical trick that makes a full moon near the horizon seem much larger than it really is. As the Buck Moon rose just after sunset, it sat low in the sky beside familiar objects such as buildings, bridges, hills and trees. That gave the brain scale references, which exaggerated the moon’s apparent size. When the moon is high overhead, with no foreground landmarks nearby, it usually looks smaller even though its actual angular size has not changed. The Buck Moon also appeared unusually bright and dramatic because of **atmospheric effects**, not because the moon itself was brighter. Near the horizon, moonlight passes through a thicker layer of Earth’s atmosphere. That scatters shorter blue wavelengths and lets more red and orange light dominate, producing the warm yellow, orange or even red tones seen around the world. In some places, smoke and haze intensified that coloring. In fact, the July Buck Moon was described as the year’s dimmest full moon, and when low on the horizon it is actually slightly farther away from observers than when higher in the sky. So the massive, glowing appearance was largely a combination of human perception and atmospheric filtering, amplified by dramatic foreground scenes captured by photographers.

Q: With August bringing two rare eclipses, how will the upcoming almost blood moon rival July's spectacular lunar display?

August’s “almost blood moon” could outdo the Buck Moon in drama, even if not in global photo variety. On Aug. 27–28, Earth’s shadow will cover about 96% of the full Sturgeon Moon, leaving only a thin bright sliver and turning most of the lunar disk a deep coppery red-orange. That is a much more unusual effect than July’s warm-toned Buck Moon, whose orange and red hues came mainly from low altitude, haze and smoke. What makes the August event a serious rival is how close it will look to a total lunar eclipse. Although it is technically a deep partial eclipse, the Moon is expected to resemble a classic blood moon, with only a narrow silver edge left outside Earth’s umbra. Astronomers describe it as the most impressive lunar eclipse until the end of 2028. Visibility also favors a large audience. The eclipse will be seen across North and South America, Europe, Africa and parts of western Asia, with the best views in the Americas. In some eastern North American locations, the Moon may rise already deep in shadow, creating a striking moonrise effect similar to the Buck Moon’s horizon drama but with genuine eclipse darkening and reddening. Unlike the Aug. 12 solar eclipse, the lunar eclipse is safe to watch with the naked eye and needs no special equipment. Maximum eclipse occurs around 12:12 a.m. EDT on Aug. 28. If skies are clear, the combination of near-total coverage, red coloring and broad visibility should make it one of 2026’s standout skywatching events.

3 articles · Updated · Sky at Night Magazine · Jul 31

A single 15-minute exposure taken over Brisbane on July 29 shows the full Buck Moon as a glowing streak rather than a sharp disc, capturing its apparent motion across the evening sky.
Sohal said he timed the shot to keep the Moon visible without overexposing it, using Earth’s rotation to record the trail and a dead tree silhouette to add scale and contrast.
The image was made with a Nikon D850 and 200-500mm lens at f/5.6, with 15 minutes exposed for the Moon and 5 seconds for the foreground before Photoshop processing.
The Buck Moon is July’s full Moon; while it stays relatively low in the Northern Hemisphere, it rises high during Southern Hemisphere winter, making Brisbane a favorable vantage point.
The photo follows wider global Buck Moon sightings on July 29, when skywatchers from North America to Australia shared images of the annual full Moon.