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The January Full Moon, popularly known as the Wolf’s Moon, is almost here. Here is “howl” to see it shine brightly this Thursday (January 28).
The moon will be at its maximum for just a moment – Thursday, this happens at 2:16 p.m. EST (19:16 UTC). But, as in every full moon cycle, the moon will appear full for about three days, from Wednesday to Saturday morning (January 27-30), according to NASA.
The full moon will be so bright that you can just look up at the (hopefully clear) night sky to see it. If you have access to binoculars or a telescope, you may be able to spot some lunar features, such as the Sea of Tranquility or the glowing Copernicus Crater, NASA reported.
Related: Gallery: Photos of the fantastic full moon
If it’s a cloudy night, you can always take a virtual moon tour with Moon trek, operated by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. With Moon Trek it is possible to see the historic landing sites of the Apollo missions, as well as other lunar landscapes.
To see a live broadcast of the January Full Wolf Moon rising over Rome, the Virtual Telescope Project has a free webcast, which begins at 10:45 a.m. EST (3:45 p.m. UTC) Thursday and is led by Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi.
So how did the full moon in January become the wolf moon? Look no further than the now defunct Maine Farmer’s Almanac, which gave the full moon of each month a name gleaned from Native Americans, likely in the Algonquin language, according to NASA. However, the Almanac has taken many liberties in its naming scheme, and it is not known where the name “wolf moon” came from.
“From what I learned about the traditional names given to full moons before the introduction of modern watchmaking, local rulers generally decided on the name of the moon based on the conditions at the time,” Gordon Johnston , program director at NASA headquarters, writes in a message. “These cultures generally did not need calendars specifying exact dates well in advance. Full moon names were used to describe and remember what had happened in the past and to remember what was likely to happen in the near future.
Additionally, “there are many different Native American names for full moons,” Johnston noted.
In this case, the name of the wolf moon may have been an ancient European name for the midwinter moon, Johnston wrote. And the Sioux name for the January moon translates to “wolves run together on the moon,” according to Indian Country Today, a news agency that covers the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Wolves don’t necessarily howl at the moon, but rather howl to usually express one of two things: alerting a rival pack that is breaking into their territory or guiding a lost wolf back to the pack, Previously reported Live Science.
Whichever way you choose to look at the wolf moon, we hope you don’t get lost, although you might howl at your friends or family if you’re separated. Or you can just text them and, while you’re at it, set a date to see the next full moon, also known as the snow moon, which will shine on February 27.
Originally posted on Live Science.
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