January 2024’s full moon has traditionally been called the Wolf Moon in Celtic cultures, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac and Time and Date.
It is expected to look full on Jan. 24 but will reach full illumination the next day at 12:54 p.m.EST, Jan. 25 and continue to look full on Jan. 26.
Wolves howling at the moon is used in several stories for different reasons say the Farmer’s almanac. “Howling and other wolf vocalizations are used to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and coordinate hunting.”
The January full moon is also called the Moon After Yule. Some Native American cultures say it is the Severe Moon or Center Moon.
New Year’s Eve fireworks kept sky watchers engrossed as TV stations moved across the world to different time zones and countries Dec. 31, 2022.
Then nature followed with the Quadrantids meteors. Begun Dec. 28, it peaks pre-dawn Jan. 3 to Jan 4 in 2023. Their “parent” is the Asteroid 2003 EH from the defunct constellation Quadrans Mualis.
They seem to radiate from a point east of Ursa Minor (The Little Dipper) but can be seen anywhere in a clear sky. The problem will be the moon which will be waxing gibbous on its way to full illumination Jan. 6.
Next looking up, is a Mircromoon. Called the Wolf Moon, January’s full moon is considered a Micromoon because it appears smaller due to its orbit which takes it far from Earth (as opposed to a Supermoon which appears large because it is close to Earth).
The January 2023 full moon reaches full illumination at 5 p.m. CST Jan. 6, but will appear full the day before and day after. Some Native Tribes have called it the Wolf Moon because wolves tend to howl more in January.
January full moon is the Wolf Moon J Jacobs photo)
If you like taking photos of a full moon, get those cameras or cell phones ready Jan. 16 through Jan.18 to snap the first full moon of 2022.
Even though the moon at its fullest illumination Jan. 17 at 23.48 UTC (5:48 p.m. CST), it will appear full the day before and day after Jan. 17.
A newscaster mentioned that Jan. 17-18 marks a halfway point for winter. Well, that depends.
Meteorological winter started Dec. 1 and continues through the end of February because the meteorological seasons are divided into quarters of three months each. In the Northern Hemisphere meteorological spring is March, April May.
A sky watching site mentioned that the last full moon was Dec. 19, 2021, two days before the Northern Hemisphere’s December solstice. For 2022, astronomical winter began December 21, 2021 and ends at the Equinox, March 20, 2022. Time and Date has a calendar.
The astronomical calendar is based on the Earth’s rotation around the sun with seasons divided by two solstices and two equinoxes, determined by a combination of Earth’s tilt and the sun’s position over the equator.
Another feature of a full moon is its name. Folklore, typically based on animal behavior and crop cycles, calls the January full moon the Snow Moon, Hunger Moon and, most popularly, the Wolf Moon.
Animal behavior is also behind Groundhog Day. Just for fun, on Feb. 2, check out groundhog predictions of winter’s end from Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania and Woodstock Willie in Woodstock, IL (where “Groundhog Day” was filmed).
