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A Wolf Moon will rise into the sky tonight, on January 6, marking the first full moon of the year. It will be at its brightest at 6:08 p.m. ET.
January's full moon is thought to have become known as the Wolf Moon because wolves were most frequently heard howling during this time of year, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. However, the exact origins of the name are unknown.
Despite what popular culture would have you believe, wolves don't actually howl at the moon. Wolves often hunt at night, and when they howl they tilt their heads toward the sky. They do this so that they can be heard over larger distances, as projecting their howls upwards means that their sound can be carried further.
Wolves howl for many reasons—like locating their pack or marking their territory—but howling at the moon is not one of them.
The January full moon is also known as the Center Moon by the Assiniboine people of the Northern Great Plains because it appears roughly in the middle of the cold season. Other names for the January full moon are the Frost Exploding Moon (from the Cree people), the Spirit Moon (from the Ojibwe), the Severe Moon (from Dakota) and the Canada Goose Moon (from the Tlingit).
This month's full moon is also a micromoon, the opposite of a supermoon. This means that the full moon is at its farthest point from the Earth, and so appears smaller in the sky. Specifically, it's about 252,600 miles away from Earth, over 26,000 miles further away than when it's at its closest point during a supermoon. This is due to the elliptical path of the moon's orbit.
The next supermoon will be visible on August 1, which is called the Sturgeon Moon.
Because the moon is constantly moving around the Earth, the full moon technically only lasts for a split second. However, it will usually appear full for a day on either side of this time.
Tonight, stargazers can also look out for a bright star on the left of the full moon. This star is called Pollux and it's the brighter of the two twin stars in the constellation Gemini.
The next full moon will take place on February 5, known as the Snow Moon, followed by the Worm Moon on March 7 and the Pink Moon on April 6.
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About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more