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Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Buck Moon and Belt of Venus Explanation: The Buck Moon is a traditional name for the full moon of July. In this colorful Adriatic sea and skyscape captured on July 28 from Krk Island along the coast of Croatia, a full Buck Moon is just rising over distant mountains. Since a full moon rises as the Sun sets, Earth’s shadow also rises in the twilight scene, a diffuse gray band extending above the mountainous southeastern horizon. Above Earth’s shadow band is the pinkish antitwilight arch. That subtly tinted band of backscattered sunlight is more widely known as the Belt of Venus. But as it shares the eastern horizon with the atmospheric shadow of Earth and Belt of Venus, this full Buck Moon seems to set the stage for the New Moon to come. The New Moon of August 12 will cast its own shadow on planet Earth in a much anticipated total solar eclipse.
Tomorrow’s picture: fire and rainbow
Date August 1, 2026 Credit Image Credit & Copyright: Branko Nadj Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Keighley Rockcliffe A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.
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Yesterday’s Image APOD: 2026 July 31 – NGC 4372 and the Dark Doodad
