January’s full moon, popularly known as the wolf moon, is almost at hand. Here’s ‘whining’ to see it shine brightly on Thursday (January 28).
The moon will only be full for a moment – on Thursday it happens at 14:16 EST (19:16 UTC). But as with every full moon cycle, the moon will be full from Wednesday to Saturday morning (January 27 to 30) for about three days. according to NASA.
The full moon will be so bright, you can just look up at the (hopefully bright) night sky to see it. If you have access to binoculars or a telescope, you may notice a number of landmarks, such as the Sea of Rust or the bright Copernicus crater, NASA reported.
Related: Gallery: photos of the fantastic full moon
If it’s a cloudy night, you can always take a virtual tour of the moon Moon Trek, managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. With Moon Trek, it is possible to view the historic landing sites from the Apollo missions, as well as other moonshine.
The Virtual Telescope Project has a direct import of the full wolf moon in January rising over Rome free webcast, which begins Thursday at 10:45 AM EST (15:45 UTC) and is run by Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi.
So, what did the full moon of January call the wolf moon? Look no further than the now deceased Almanac of Maine Farmer, which gave each month’s full moon a name of the Native Americans, probably from the Algonquin language, according to NASA. However, the Almanac took many liberties in its naming scheme, and it is not clear where the name “wolf moon” originated.
“From what I learned about traditional names given to full moons before the introduction of modern timing, local leaders would usually decide on the name of the moon based on the circumstances at the time,” said Gordon Johnston, a program manager at the NASA headquarters, wrote in a post. “These cultures usually do not need advance calendars specifying exact dates. Full moon names were used to describe and remember what happened in the past and to remind them of what was likely to come in the near future.”
In addition, Johnston said, “there are many different Native American names for the full moons.”
In this case, the name of the wolf moon was possibly an old European name for the midwinter moon, Johnston wrote. And the Sioux name for January’s moon translates to ‘wolves mooning together,’ according to Indian Country Today, a news agency covering the Native American population.
Wolves do not necessarily cry to the moon, but rather cry to usually express one of two things – to notice a competitor trespassing on their territory or to lead a lost wolf back to the pack, Live Science reported earlier.
However you choose to look at the wolf moon, we hope you do not get lost, although you may cry to friends or family if you divorce. Or you can just text them and, while you are busy, make an appointment to see the next full moon, also known as the snow moon, which will shine brightly on February 27th.
Originally published on Live Science.