Full Wolf Moon Rises Tonight

A full wolf moon will light up the sky tonight.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the first full moon of the new year is called the full wolf moon.

The almanac writes:

“Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.”

But not everyone will be calling tonight’s full moon the wolf moon. According to Indian Country, the claim that tribes used to call January’s full moon the wolf moon is a false claim. Cherokee citizen and lore researcher Phil Konstantin listed all of the moon names from 29 tribes on the Western Washington University website. Some tribes call the January moon the Wolves run together moon while others call it various names like goose moons, freezing moon or the fish-running moon.

Whatever you call it, tonight’s full moon will be bright in the sky tonight. EarthSky.org writes that tonight’s full moon will, much like the summer sun, will travel high across the sky.

EarthSky.org writes:

“Tonight’s moon – like the July sun – will follow a high path across the sky as seen from the northern part of the globe – and a low path as seen from the southern. This January full moon rises north of due east around sunset, climbs highest in the sky around midnight and sets north of due west around sunrise.”