Look up tonight! Full Wolf Moon will light up the skies in the US and UK – here’s where YOU can see the moon phenomenon

The winter Full Wolf Moon will shine brightly in the night sky worldwide on Thursday.

Earth’s natural satellite peaked at 12:54 PM ET, but its full glory will be visible once the sun sets after 5:00 PM ET and will be visible through Friday.

The Full Moon, the first of 2024, will rise in an easterly direction and appear overhead around midnight.

At sunrise it will disappear into the western horizon.

The name was proposed by medieval Europeans and Native American tribes, who all agreed that the name should reflect the howling wolves made in the dead of winter.

The Wolf Moon is named after the behavior of wolves during the winter months, as they become noisier during that time

In his skywatching guideNASA encouraged people to wear “appropriate festive celestial attire… in honor of the full moon.”

It added: ‘Make sure you’re ready for the cold weather and take advantage of these early sunsets to enjoy and share the wonders of the night sky.’

The Wolf Moon got its name because it was believed that wolves become noisier at this time of year and emerge to howl at the moon, although the latter is just a myth, according to the Smithsonian.

Instead, the howl is used as a social call to gather the rest of the pack to go hunting, identify his territory, or help him find his way home.

NASA said the Wolf Moon got its name from “the packs of wolves heard howling outside villages amid the cold and deep snow of winter,” adding that this usually happened around mid-January.

The Maine Farmer’s Almanac first mentioned all twelve full moons almost a century ago, inspired by the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar, folklore and native lunar calendars.

January’s full moon is called the Wolf Moon and is visible from Wednesday to Friday

January’s full moon is also called the middle moon by the Assiniboine people of the northern Great Plains, and the Cree, Algonquin, and Dakota tribes all have their own names for the phenomenon.

The Cree tribe calls it the Cold Moon or Frost Exploding Moon, while the Algonquin tribe calls it the Freeze Up Moon and Dakota calls it the Hard Moon, according to the almanac.

A Full Moon appears in the sky every 29.5 days because it takes 27.3 days to complete its orbit around the Earth.

NASA is giving people the opportunity to livestream the Wolf Moon for free via astronomer Gianluca Masi of The Virtual Telescope Project starting Thursday at 3:30 PM ET.

Jupiter and Saturn will also appear next to the Wolf Moon starting Wednesday, with Jupiter appearing brightest at about 64 degrees above the southern horizon.

Meanwhile, Saturn will be visible at 15 degrees around the west-southwest horizon.

If you miss the Wolf Moon, the next full moon, the Snow Moon, will be visible in the sky on February 24.