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See May’s full ‘Flower Moon’ bloom in gorgeous photos from around the world
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May’s full “Flower Moon” has come and gone, dazzling stargazers with a magnificent display of natural light as it cut a lazy arc over the southern horizon, below the stars of the constellation Virgo.
The Flower Moon — named for the colorful blooms that appear in the northern hemisphere around the time it rises — bloomed into the night sky on May 1, as the blue-white star Spica and red Arcturus twinkled nearby.
Mesmerizing photos of the May 2026 full Flower Moon.
Photographer Lokman Vural took a magnificent photo of the full moon on May 1 as it rose through the concrete jungle of New York. The shot is framed by the skyscraper-lined avenue of 42nd Street, which the sun will appear to set perfectly between during a phenomenon called Manhattanhenge on May 29 and July 11 in 2026, according to the American Museum of Natural History.
Gary Hershorn found a perfect location from which to capture the rising room as it haloed the Statue of Liberty just a few miles away on that same night, as Mare Crisium, or the Sea of Crises, peaked above the monument’s spiked crown.
Hershorn captured yet another well-timed view of moonrise from Jersey City featuring the silhouette of the Statue of Liberty’s golden torch, while using a telephoto lens to make the moon appear outsized compared to its foreground subject.
Isa Terli, meanwhile, snapped a striking photo of the moon glowing behind the Beyazit Fire Tower in Istanbul, Turkiye, which was once an important lookout point from which to spot fires that could threaten the city.
This gorgeous view of the Flower Moon was captured by Ahsan Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed as the lunar disk rose over the mountains close to the city of Erbil in Iraq. Its crimson hue results from the the light filtering properties of Earth’s atmosphere, which scatter the blue wavelengths of moonlight as the lunar disk sits close to the horizon, while allowing red wavelengths to pass through relatively unhindered.
Davide Pischettola managed to image that same moon as it appeared atop the ancient coastal defence tower of Torre Calderina close to the Italian town of Molfetta on May 1.
This photo of the full moon was captured by Deepak Gupta as the lunar disk glowed above a statue of Lord Buddha in Lucknow, India on May 1. The date marks the celebration of Buddha Purnima — also called Vesak and Buddha Jayanti — when worshippers commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of Gautama Buddha, according to Time and Date.
Sergei Gapon snapped a beautiful photo of the Flower Moon as it nestled between skyscrapers looming over Warsaw, Poland, as the refraction effect created by Earth’s atmosphere subtly warped and squashed the outline of the lunar disk.
Photographer Fabrice Coffrini took a calming photo of the near-full moon shining to the right of a silhouetted tree, as dusk gave way to night in the sky over Lucens in western Switzerland on April 30.
This well-timed shot of a passenger aircraft crossing the lunar disk was snapped by Kirill Kudryavtsev in the skies above Berlin, Germany on the same night (April 30), as bright craters, sweeping mountain ranges and dark lunar seas marked the surface of the natural satellite.
Our final shot was captured by photographer J. David Ake as the Flower moon rose over the Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C., illuminating nearby clouds with its orange light as the waters of the tidal basin reflected the light of the monument above.
Feeling inspired to capture your own shots of the full moon? Well, good news! May will play host to not one, but two full moons, with the second being a rare “Blue Moon” on May 31, which occurs just once every 2.5 years thanks to a quirk of our monthly calendar and the duration of the moon’s orbit.
Read more: What is a Blue Moon and when can you see the next one in 2026?
Be sure to read our guide detailing how to photograph the moon to ensure you’re ready for the rare lunar event, along with our roundups of the best lenses and cameras for capturing the night sky.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your full moon photos with Space.com’s readers, then please send your image(s), comments, name and location to spacephotos@space.com.