Full Wolf Moon will light up skies around the world tonight – what it is and the best time to see it

If you are a fan of stargazing, make sure you mark this evening in your diary.

A Full Wolf Moon will light up the skies around the world – and you won’t want to miss it.

A full moon is as close as we can get to seeing the sun illuminate the entire dayside of the moon.

The moon will be opposite the sun as seen from Earth, revealing the dayside of our lunar satellite.

The celestial event will technically peak tonight at 10:27 PM GMT, but you don’t need to worry about setting an alarm as the moon will appear full and bright for several days.

“The moon will appear full for about three days around this time,” NASA explained.

“From Sunday evening (and possibly the latter part of Sunday morning) through Wednesday morning.”

Plus, a unique comet will become visible in the night sky tonight – yet another reason to keep your eyes skyward.

The celestial event will technically peak tonight at 10:27 PM GMT, but you don’t need to worry about setting an alarm as the moon will appear full and bright for several days.

The moon has eight lunar phases, which repeat approximately once a month (every 29.5 days).

These are, in order: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing moon, full moon, waning crescent, third quarter, and waning crescent.

“Like Earth, the moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the moon rotates,” NASA explains.

“The sun always illuminates half of the moon while the other half remains dark, but how much of that illuminated half we can see changes as the moon travels through its orbit.”

According to the Maine Farmers’ Almanac, January’s full moon is the “Wolf Moon,” a reference to the packs of wolves heard howling outside villages at this time of year.

However, you will also hear it called the Ice Moon, the Old Moon and the Moon after Yule.

What makes this Full Wolf Moon particularly special is the fact that it will pass in front of Mars, making the usually bright planet invisible in the night sky from some countries.

“On the night of the full moon, the moon will pass in front of the planet Mars over most of the continental US and parts of Africa, Canada and Mexico,” NASA explained.

The moon has eight lunar phases, which repeat approximately once a month (every 29.5 days).

In addition, a unique comet will become visible today for the first time in 160,000.

The comet, named C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), was discovered by the ATLAS research system and is slowly approaching the inner solar system.

According to current calculations, it will come closest to the Sun today, at a distance of about 13.3 million kilometers.

While that may sound far away, it is actually relatively close; Astronomers call the comet a ‘solar skirt’.

Dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, said: ‘The comet is expected to make its closest approach to the Sun (known as perihelion) around January 13, 2025.

‘But as with all comets, their visibility and brightness can be unpredictable.

‘Observers may be able to observe the comet in the days around perihelion, depending on local conditions and the comet’s behavior.’

The phases of the moon

Like the Earth, the moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the moon rotates.

The sun always illuminates half of the moon while the other half remains dark, but how much of that illuminated half we can see changes as the moon travels through its orbit.

In the Northern Hemisphere the phases of the moon are:

1. New moon

This is the invisible phase of the moon, where the illuminated side of the moon faces the sun and the night side faces Earth.

2. Waxing Crescent

This silver patch of moon is created when the illuminated half of the moon is largely pointed away from Earth, while only a small portion is visible to us from our planet.

3. First quarter

The moon has now completed a quarter of its monthly journey and you are seeing half of its illuminated side.

4. Waxing Gibbous

Now most of the Moon’s dayside has come into view and the Moon is brighter in the sky.

5. Full moon

This is as close as we can get to the sun illuminating the entire dayside of the moon.

6. Declining gibbous

As the moon begins its journey back to the sun, the far side of the moon now reflects the moon’s light.

7. Last quarter

The moon looks like it’s half-lit from Earth’s perspective, but in reality you’re seeing half of the half of the moon illuminated by the sun – or a quarter.

8. Waning crescent moon

The Moon is almost back to the point in its orbit where the dayside faces directly toward the Sun, and all we see from our perspective is a thin curve.