The July full moon shone brightly over Greece's 2,500-year-old Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion late Thursday. (AP video: Srdjan Nedeljkovic)

The full buck moon will reach its peak illumination on Thursday, July 10. It’s just one of this month’s celestial highlights.

Skywatchers may have a harder time spotting July's full moon in Iowa. The evening of Wednesday, July 9, is expected to have 50-80% cloud cover across the state with some thunderstorms possible starting in western Iowa around 10 p.m. and moving across the state through the night, according to the National Weather Service.

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.