Spectacular Full Moon Shines Over Paris, City of Light

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Full Moon Skywatching VegaStar Carpentier
The full moon in this image is the first after the solstice on June 20, 2012. This photo was taken by photographer VegaStar Carpentier of Paris, France, on July 3, 2012. (Image credit: VegaStar Carpentier)

A gigantic full moon looms over Paris in this spectacular night sky view.

Astrophotographer VegaStar Carpentier took this magnificent photo on July 3, 2012 using EOS Canon 1000D camera with 300mm lens and an exposure of Exp.1/15 seconds.

The July full moon  is the first after the solstice on June 20 this year. This moon is commonly called the buck, hay or thunder moon in North America to mark when young bucks grow antlers, farmers work on bales of hay and thunderstorms arrive.

A full moon occurs when the orb is directly opposite the sun. This means the moon  can fully reflect the light of the sun giving it a beautiful glow.  The time between one full moon to the next is called a “synodic” month and takes 29.53 days.

Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

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Nina Sen
Contributing Writer and Producer

Nina Sen is a freelance writer and producer who covered night sky photography and astronomy for Space.com. She began writing and producing content for Space.com in 2011 with a focus on story and image production, as well as amazing space photos captured by NASA telescopes and other missions. Her work also includes coverage of amazing images by astrophotographers that showcase the night sky's beauty.