The Wolf Moon Is Rising Tonight — Here’s Where You Can Spot It
"Go look at the sky" is the best New Year's resolution.
This year’s first full Moon is called the Wolf Moon, and it’s rising in the night sky tonight.
If you time your sky-gazing right and the weather cooperates, you can catch a colorful sunset in the west while a bright full Moon rises in the east because this month’s full Moon rises around the same time the Sun sets. Much of the country is blanketed by cloudy skies and chilly rain this week, but you might still catch a glimpse of the Moon between the clouds.
The Wolf Moon is the first full Moon of 2024.
The Wolf Moon gets its nickname from the fact that wolves supposedly tend to howl more often during this cold stretch of winter — but not, as folk tales would have it because they’re hungry. Howling is how wolves “locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, define territory, and coordinate hunting,” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Other nicknames for this month’s full Moon include the Tlingit “Canada Goose Moon,” the Algonquin “Freeze Up Moon,” and Inverse’s favorite Moon nickname, the Cree “Exploding Frost Moon.”
If the skies are clear enough to catch the Wolf Moon this month, spare a thought for the history-making Japanese lunar lander SLIM when you look up; the intrepid robot is up there fighting for its electronic life.
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