The sunset embers smolder low,
The Moon climbs o’er the hill,
The peaks have caught the alpenglow,
The Robin’s song is still.
–John L. Stoddard (1850–1931)
UK (Commonwealth Union)_The winter Full Wolf Moon is set to shine brilliantly worldwide in the night sky today (Thursday).
The first full Moon of 2024 takes place on the night of Thursday, 25th January.
The Moon is located on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun at a full Moon, so the face of the Moon facing towards the Earth will be entirely illuminated by the Sun’s rays.
Look for the January Moon which will rise from the eastern horizon around sunset that evening. The Wolf Moon glows bright and round overhead by midnight and by sunrise, it will disappear into the western horizon.
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Even though earth’s natural satellite peaked at 12:54pm ET, its full glory will be visible once the sun sets after 5:00pm ET and will be visible through Friday.
The full moon, being the first of 2024, will rise east and appear overhead near midnight and by sunrise, it will disappear into the western horizon.
NASA encouraged people to wear ‘suitably celebratory celestial attire … in its skywatching guide, ‘in honor of the full moon.’
It added, ensure you are ready for the cold weather and take advantage of these early sunsets to enjoy and share the wonders of the night sky.
January’s Wolf Moon was named after wolves behavior during the winter month because they become more vocal during that time.
The name was proposed by Medieval Europeans and Native American tribes who all agreed it should reflect the howling that wolves made during the dead of winter.
Why do we call January’s Moon a “Wolf Moon”?
The name was proposed by Native American tribes and Medieval Europeans, who all agreed it should reflect the howling wolves made during the dead of winter.
The Wolf Moon was given its name since it was believed that wolves become more vocal during this time of year and emerge to howl at the moon, although the latter is just a myth, according to the Smithsonian.
Instead, the howling is used as a social call to rally the rest of the pack to hunt, to identify its territory, or to help it find its way home.
NASA stated that the Wolf Moon got its name from ‘the packs of wolves heard howling outside the villages amid the cold and deep snows of winter,’ adding that this usually occurred around mid-January.
The Maine Farmer’s Almanac initially named all 12 full moons nearly a century ago, taking inspiration from the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar, folklore, and indigenous lunar calendars.
The full moon in January is also called the Center Moon by the Assiniboine people of the Northern Great Plains and the Cree, Algonquin, and Dakota tribes all have their own names for the phenomenon.
It is called the Cold Moon or Frost Exploding Moon by the Cree tribe, while the Algonquin tribe calls it the Freeze Up Moon and Dakota refers to it as the Hard Moon, according to the almanac.
A full moon appears every 29.5 days in the sky because it takes 27.3 days for it to complete its orbit around the Earth.
NASA is giving people the option to livestream the Wolf Moon for free from astronomer Gianluca Masi of The Virtual Telescope Project starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Saturn and Jupiter will also appear alongside the Wolf Moon beginning on Wednesday, with Jupiter appearing the brightest about 64 degrees above the southern horizon.
Saturn will meanwhile, be visible 15 degrees about the west-southwestern horizon. If you miss the Wolf Moon, the next full moon, the Snow Moon, will be visible in the sky on 24th February
