Extract from ABC News
Skies will light up again tonight — but it won't be from fireworks this time. (AP: Mark Baker)
The New Year's Eve fireworks lit up skies with colourful blasts around world earlier this week.
But if you still haven't got your fill of dazzling sights, there's an astronomic delight in store for tonight.
The first full moon of the year, known as the wolf moon, will be on show — and it's set to appear quite large.
Here's what you can expect and the best time to see it.
Why will the Moon look bigger than usual?
This month's full moon will occur just two days after the celestial body passes its closest distance to Earth.
While this means it won't technically be a supermoon, it'll look almost as big to the unaided eye.
A supermoon over Mow Cop Castle in England. (Reuters: Phil Noble)
What is a supermoon?
It's when the Moon looks a lot bigger than usual to us on Earth.
But it doesn't actually grow bigger.
Because the Moon's orbit around Earth isn't a perfect circle, there are times when it's closer to Earth.
That's when it looks biggest to us.
The phenomenon occurs when the Moon, in either its full or new lunar phase, syncs up with a close swing around Earth, according to NASA.
To be exact, it's when the Moon comes within 90 per cent of its closest approach to Earth.
But since we can't see new moons very easily, the term is most often used when the Moon is full.
When is the best time to see it?
The Moon will appear at its biggest to the unaided eye at dusk.
Thanks to an optical illusion known as the Moon Illusion, it appears biggest when it's on the horizon.
That is, around dusk.
Scientists haven't got a "rock solid" answer for why that is, according to NASA, but some have guessed it's because objects in the foreground of your view, like mountains and trees, trick your brain into thinking the Moon is closer than it is.
This doesn't explain why astronauts in orbit also see the Moon Illusion, though.
Why is it called a wolf moon?
All the full moons that occur throughout the year have names that come from a US reference book called the Old Farmer's Almanac.
A new edition of the book is published every September, containing weather pattern forecasts, Moon phases and gardening tips for the upcoming year.
The names used in the guide originate from Native American and colonial oral traditions, and were based on seasonal milestones.
The Old Farmer's Almanac is still in print. (Old Farmer's Almanac)
Here are the names for each month's moon:
- January: Wolf Moon
- February: Snow Moon
- March: Worm Moon
- April: Pink Moon
- May: Flower Moon
- June: Strawberry Moon
- July: Buck Moon
- August: Sturgeon Moon
- September: Harvest Moon
- October: Hunter's Moon
- November: Beaver Moon
- December: Cold Moon
You might have noticed some of these names — like the snow moon and cold moon — aren't very fitting for our calendar year.
That's because the lunar names are based on Northern Hemisphere seasons.
The wolf moon moniker is believed to have been brought to North America by European settlers and relates to the howling of wolves often heard at this time of year.
The Old Farmer's Almanac does include several other names given to the January full moon:
- The Centre Moon, from the Assiniboine People to mark the middle of winter
- The Cold Moon and Frost Exploding Moon, from the Cree People
- The Freeze Up Moon, from the Algonquin People
- The Severe Moon and the Hard Moon, from the Dakota People
The harvest supermoon behind the Statue of Liberty in Jersey City, US. (AP: Adam Gray)
How rare are supermoons?
There are usually only a handful each year.
In 2026, we'll see just two — in November and December.
Though there is another lunar event in store this year — May will have a blue moon.
That's when there are two full moons in a single month.
It's uncommon enough that it led to the expression, "Once in a blue moon".
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