Photo: NASA via Twitter
This year has a lot in store for stargazers. Meteor showers, lunar eclipses, and supermoons are expected to grace the sky, offering us some of the greatest spectacles. One particular show is taking place tonight, and the main actor is our Moon.
The first full Moon of 2022, known as the Wolf Moon, is rising on Monday evening, January 17th. It will appear at 6:48 p.m. EST, and it will light up the night sky for three days in a row, from Sunday evening through Wednesday morning. According to NASA, our beautiful neighbor will not shine alone. Next to it, it will appear Pollux, the brightest star in the zodiacal constellation Gemini.
So why the Wolf Moon? It appears that the Maine Farmer's Almanac published Indian names for the celestial events regarding full Moons in the '30s for the first time. According to the writings, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northern and eastern part of the U.S. named the first full Moon of the winter the Wolf Moon.
This name was associated with the time of the year, and during winter, it was traditionally believed that wolves howled hungrily at the Moon. But January's first full Moon also goes by other names as well. Because it rises in the middle of the cold season in the Northern Hemisphere, the Assiniboine people of the Northern Great Plains have called it the Center Moon.
Regardless of its name, stargazers better prepare their cameras because they'll be having front-row seats at tonight's spectacle. NASA's Gordon Johnston advises people to remember to "stay warm, but when the sky is clear, take advantage of these early nightfalls and late sunrises to get out, look up, and share the wonders of the sky!"
The next full Moon will come on our skies on February 16th. It will also appear full for about three days around that time, from midnight Tuesday morning to midnight Thursday night.
So why the Wolf Moon? It appears that the Maine Farmer's Almanac published Indian names for the celestial events regarding full Moons in the '30s for the first time. According to the writings, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northern and eastern part of the U.S. named the first full Moon of the winter the Wolf Moon.
This name was associated with the time of the year, and during winter, it was traditionally believed that wolves howled hungrily at the Moon. But January's first full Moon also goes by other names as well. Because it rises in the middle of the cold season in the Northern Hemisphere, the Assiniboine people of the Northern Great Plains have called it the Center Moon.
Regardless of its name, stargazers better prepare their cameras because they'll be having front-row seats at tonight's spectacle. NASA's Gordon Johnston advises people to remember to "stay warm, but when the sky is clear, take advantage of these early nightfalls and late sunrises to get out, look up, and share the wonders of the sky!"
The next full Moon will come on our skies on February 16th. It will also appear full for about three days around that time, from midnight Tuesday morning to midnight Thursday night.
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