When and where to look in 2025: Look for the bright, round full moon to rise in the east near sunset on January 13, 2025. It will be glowing nearly overhead around midnight, and dropping low in the west near sunrise. And that bright red star close to the moon is Mars. Mars it at its biggest and brightest for 2025 now!
Crest of the full moon falls at 22:27 UTC on January 13. That’s 4:27 p.m. CST.
The full moon glows next to Mars
This year, the January full moon lies next to Mars, now at its brightest. The bright moonlight might make seeing Mars difficult. To help spot the red planet, block the right half of the full moon with a distant object such as a utility pole. Mars may very well pop into view. For a better view of the planet, come back a couple of nights later when a bright moon isn’t in the sky.
A few observers will see the moon occult – or pass in front of – Mars. If you look outside on the night of January 13 and don’t see Mars … that might be because it’s behind the moon. Visit In-the-Sky.org for more.
Even though the moon and Mars appear next to each other in the sky, they are in fact nowhere near each other in three-dimensional space. That’s because Mars, lying at 59 million miles from our planet, is about 240 times farther than the moon.
January’s full moon in front of the twin stars of Gemini
The January full moon can lie in front of one of two constellations of the zodiac. If the full moon falls in the first half of the month, as it does this year, it lands in Gemini the Twins. If it happens during the second half, as it did last year, it falls in Cancer the Crab.
The moon is roundest on the day when it is full, but it appears almost, but not quite full the day before and after. On the evening of this January’s full moon, the twin stars of Gemini, Castor (the dimmer one) and Pollux shine nearby, forming an almost straight line with the moon. However, the bright moonlight might make these two famous stars dim or even invisible. If you can’t spot them, rest assured, they are still there!
January’s full moon is the Wolf Moon
All full moons have popular nicknames. January’s full moon is often called the Wolf Moon because – in parts of the world where they live – wolves are active in January and often howl on cold nights. Other names derived from North American indigenous people also refer to January’s cold. They include the Cold Moon, Frost Exploding Moon, Freeze Up Moon, and Hard Moon.
January full moon and the July sun
Every full moon stays – more or less – opposite the sun. The moon’s path roughly follows the sun’s daytime path from six months ago, and six months hence.
In the Northern Hemisphere, you can see this happening as you watch the January full moon rise to almost the top of the sky, just as the sun does in July.
For the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the same effect, but reversed. Since it’s early summer there, the full moon in January rides low in the sky as the January sun rides high.
Tracing the high path of the January full moon
You can experiment with the path of the sun and moon. Simply trace a line with your finger from east to west along a low arc above the southern horizon to emulate the sun’s January path. Then trace another path high overhead to emulate to the moon’s path in January. And you’ll see that the higher path will be much longer than the lower one.
The monthly paths come into balance
Little by little, we can watch the two paths come back into balance. Each moon until June, the full moon will cross the sky at a slightly lower arc than the previous month. After that, each successive full moon takes less time than the previous one to cross the sky. Since last month’s full moon was closest to the winter solstice, it rose the highest. At March’s full moon, which is near the Northern Hemisphere’s spring equinox, the two paths – of the moon and of the sun – will nearly be the same.
Then, near the June solstice, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere see the sun cross high overhead during the year’s longest days. And, during the short northern summer nights, we see the moon cross lower and spend less time in the sky.
And on the cycle goes.
Bottom line: The 2025 January full Wolf Moon falls on January 13 at 22:27 UTC (4:27 p.m. CST). It appears next to the planet Mars – at its brightest for 2025 – and lies in the constellation Gemini.
The post January full moon is the Wolf Moon. See it near Mars! first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/if1sP4R
When and where to look in 2025: Look for the bright, round full moon to rise in the east near sunset on January 13, 2025. It will be glowing nearly overhead around midnight, and dropping low in the west near sunrise. And that bright red star close to the moon is Mars. Mars it at its biggest and brightest for 2025 now!
Crest of the full moon falls at 22:27 UTC on January 13. That’s 4:27 p.m. CST.
The full moon glows next to Mars
This year, the January full moon lies next to Mars, now at its brightest. The bright moonlight might make seeing Mars difficult. To help spot the red planet, block the right half of the full moon with a distant object such as a utility pole. Mars may very well pop into view. For a better view of the planet, come back a couple of nights later when a bright moon isn’t in the sky.
A few observers will see the moon occult – or pass in front of – Mars. If you look outside on the night of January 13 and don’t see Mars … that might be because it’s behind the moon. Visit In-the-Sky.org for more.
Even though the moon and Mars appear next to each other in the sky, they are in fact nowhere near each other in three-dimensional space. That’s because Mars, lying at 59 million miles from our planet, is about 240 times farther than the moon.
January’s full moon in front of the twin stars of Gemini
The January full moon can lie in front of one of two constellations of the zodiac. If the full moon falls in the first half of the month, as it does this year, it lands in Gemini the Twins. If it happens during the second half, as it did last year, it falls in Cancer the Crab.
The moon is roundest on the day when it is full, but it appears almost, but not quite full the day before and after. On the evening of this January’s full moon, the twin stars of Gemini, Castor (the dimmer one) and Pollux shine nearby, forming an almost straight line with the moon. However, the bright moonlight might make these two famous stars dim or even invisible. If you can’t spot them, rest assured, they are still there!
January’s full moon is the Wolf Moon
All full moons have popular nicknames. January’s full moon is often called the Wolf Moon because – in parts of the world where they live – wolves are active in January and often howl on cold nights. Other names derived from North American indigenous people also refer to January’s cold. They include the Cold Moon, Frost Exploding Moon, Freeze Up Moon, and Hard Moon.
January full moon and the July sun
Every full moon stays – more or less – opposite the sun. The moon’s path roughly follows the sun’s daytime path from six months ago, and six months hence.
In the Northern Hemisphere, you can see this happening as you watch the January full moon rise to almost the top of the sky, just as the sun does in July.
For the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the same effect, but reversed. Since it’s early summer there, the full moon in January rides low in the sky as the January sun rides high.
Tracing the high path of the January full moon
You can experiment with the path of the sun and moon. Simply trace a line with your finger from east to west along a low arc above the southern horizon to emulate the sun’s January path. Then trace another path high overhead to emulate to the moon’s path in January. And you’ll see that the higher path will be much longer than the lower one.
The monthly paths come into balance
Little by little, we can watch the two paths come back into balance. Each moon until June, the full moon will cross the sky at a slightly lower arc than the previous month. After that, each successive full moon takes less time than the previous one to cross the sky. Since last month’s full moon was closest to the winter solstice, it rose the highest. At March’s full moon, which is near the Northern Hemisphere’s spring equinox, the two paths – of the moon and of the sun – will nearly be the same.
Then, near the June solstice, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere see the sun cross high overhead during the year’s longest days. And, during the short northern summer nights, we see the moon cross lower and spend less time in the sky.
And on the cycle goes.
Bottom line: The 2025 January full Wolf Moon falls on January 13 at 22:27 UTC (4:27 p.m. CST). It appears next to the planet Mars – at its brightest for 2025 – and lies in the constellation Gemini.
The post January full moon is the Wolf Moon. See it near Mars! first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/if1sP4R
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