Mark Your Calendars: The Upcoming ‘Wolf Moon’ Illuminate January Nights!

The inaugural full moon of January 2025 — the Wolf Moon — has arrived, as per NASA, and those observing the sky will enjoy an added bonus with it.

The moon ascended into the sky during the evening of Sunday, Jan. 12, according to NASA, and will appear full for about three days, lasting until Wednesday morning. It will attain its maximum brightness on Monday evening at 4:27 p.m. CT, NASA reported, with Mars seeming to draw ever closer.

“On the evening of the full Moon, in most of the continental USA as well as certain areas of Africa, Canada, and Mexico, the Moon will glide in front of the planet Mars,” stated NASA.

The term “Wolf Moon” originates from Native American traditions, NASA explained, with January’s full Moon being named due to “packs of wolves heard howling near the villages amidst the cold and profound snows of winter.”

European nomenclatures for the Moon — the first full Moon following the winter solstice — consist of the Ice Moon, the Old Moon, and the Moon after Yule, as per NASA.

Parade of planets and radiant stars in the sky

Yet that’s merely one of the spectacles observers can enjoy this week.

Mars will be at its nearest and most luminous on Jan. 15, according to NASA, while Venus and Saturn will appear closest together on Jan. 18.

Six of our seven neighboring planets will align in the sky to create a long arc around mid-January. All except Neptune and Uranus should be discernible to the naked eye just after sunset, weather permitting.

The spectacle will persist for weeks, with some planets occasionally drawing near to each other. Mercury will make a brief appearance by the conclusion of February. The planets will progressively depart, one at a time, throughout spring.

The optimal time to view all the planets simultaneously will be during the afternoon hours between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. for the entire month, as stated by Hunter Miller, an astronomy instructor at the Adler Planetarium.

“The precise timing and positioning of the planets in the sky will differ slightly throughout the month, so I recommend using a sky observation app such as Stellarium to identify exactly where to look from your location at any particular moment,” Miller advised NBC Chicago.

Alongside a procession of planets, other stars will sparkle brightly this month, according to NASA.

“During this season, we observe numerous brilliant stars in the sky during evening twilight, with prominent stars scattered from the south-southeast toward the northwest,” NASA noted. “We perceive more stars in this direction as we are gazing toward the Local Arm of our home galaxy (also referred to as the Orion Arm, Orion-Cygnus Arm, or Orion Bridge).”