The first full Moon of the year began to illuminate the night sky on Monday and it was magical.
Not only was it also the first full moon after the winter solstice and the second of the winter season but it brought with it a cosmic magic trick, namely that the moon appeared to pass in front of the planet Mars.
We sent The Travelist and Frequent Business Traveler Editorial Director Jonathan Spira out to document the magic and the two photos published along with this story make clear how wondrous the skies were Monday night.
Many ancient moon names or names for lunar months have passed into modern mythology: This particular full moon carries the name “Wolf Moon” as well as the Ice or Old Moon, the Moon After Yule, the Cold Moon, or the Moon of Little Winter, as documented in “The Maine Farmer’s Almanac,” which began to publish Native American names for full Moons in the 1930s.
January’s full moon carries the wolf moniker because wolves are active this time of year and can be heard howling on cold winter nights, according the Old Farmer’s Almanac
The Wolf Moon appeared Monday night opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 5:27 p.m. EST. This was Tuesday from the South Africa and Eastern European time zones eastward across the remainder of Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and onward, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration., to the International Date Line in the mid-Pacific.
If you missed the Wolf Moon Monday night, you have several more days during which it can be viewed. The Wolf Moon will appear full for about three days around the listed time, from Sunday evening (and possibly the last part of Sunday morning) into Wednesday morning.
The cosmic magic trick, which is really an optical illusion, will be viewable for most of the continental United States as well as parts of Africa, Canada, and Mexico, when the Moon appears to pass in front of the planet Mars.
Mars will shine brightly each evening, NASA said. Look for it in the east each night, as well as in the northwest at dawn.
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
