The next full Moon is the Wolf Moon; the Ice or Old Moon; the Moon after Yule; the start of Prayag Kumbh Mela; Shakambhari Purnima; Paush Purnima; the Thiruvathira, Thiruvathirai, or Arudhra Darisanam festival Moon; and Duruthu Poya.
The phases of the Moon for January 2025.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
The next full Moon will be Monday
evening, Jan. 13, 2025, appearing opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude)
at 5:27 p.m. EST. This will be Tuesday from the South Africa and Eastern
European time zones eastward across the remainder of Africa, Europe, Asia,
Australia, etc., to the International Date Line in the mid-Pacific. The Moon
will appear full for about three days around this time, from Sunday evening
(and possibly the last part of Sunday morning) into Wednesday morning. On the
night of the full Moon, for most of the continental USA as well as parts of
Africa, Canada, and Mexico, the Moon will pass in front of the planet Mars.
The Maine Farmers' Almanac began
publishing Native American names for full Moons in the 1930s. Over time these
names have become widely known and used. According to this almanac, as the full
Moon in January this is the Wolf Moon, from the packs of wolves heard howling
outside the villages amid the cold and deep snows of winter.
European names for this Moon
include the Ice Moon, the Old Moon, and (as the full Moon after the winter
solstice) the Moon after Yule. Yule was a three to 12-day festival near the
winter solstice in pre-Christian Europe. In the tenth century King Haakon I
associated Yule with Christmas as part of the Christianization of Norway, and
this association spread throughout Europe. The exact timing of this
pre-Christian celebration is unclear. Some sources now associate Yule with the
12 days of Christmas, so that the Moon after Yule is after Twelfth Night on
January 6. Other sources suggest that Yule is an old name for the month of
January, so the Moon after Yule is in February. In the absence of more reliable
historic information, I'm going with the full Moon after the winter solstice as
the Moon after Yule.
This full Moon corresponds with the
start of the 44-day festival Prayag Kumbh Mela, also known as Maha Kumbh. This
Hindu pilgrimage and festival is held every 12 years in the Indian city of
Prayagraj at the confluence of three rivers, the Ganges, the Yamuna, and the
mythical Sarasvati. It is expected to draw around 400 million visitors. Similar
Kumbh celebrations are held approximately every 12 years at the convergence of
three rivers in three other Indian cities, Nashik (upcoming in 2027), Ujjain
(in 2028), and Haridwar (in 2033).
In the Hindu calendar, this full
Moon is Shakambhari Purnima, the last day in the 8-day Shakambari Navratri
holiday that celebrates the goddess Shakambhari. In the Purnimanta tradition
that ends months on the full Moon day, this full Moon is Paush Purnima, the
last day of the Hindu month of Paush. The day after Paush Purnima is the start
of the month of Magha, a period of austerity. Bathing in the holy waters of
India is an important activity for both Shakambari Navratri and Magha.
This full Moon corresponds with the
Thiruvathira, Thiruvathirai, or Arudhra Darisanam festival, celebrated by
Hindus in the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
For the Buddhists of Sri Lanka,
this is Duruthu Poya, which commemorates Siddhartha Gautama Buddha's first
visit to Sri Lanka.
In many lunar and lunisolar
calendars the months change with the new Moon and full Moons fall in the middle
of the lunar month. This full Moon is in the middle of the 12th and final month
of the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. The new Moon on January 29 will be Chinese
New Year, the start of the Year of the Snake. This full Moon is in the middle
of Tevet in the Hebrew calendar and Rajab, the seventh month of the Islamic
calendar. Rajab is one of the four sacred months in which warfare and fighting
are forbidden.
As usual, the wearing of suitably
celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full Moon. Take care
in the cold weather and take advantage of these early sunsets to enjoy and
share the wonders of the night sky. And avoid starting any wars.
Here are the other celestial events
between now and the full Moon after next, with times and angles based on the
location of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.:
As winter continues in the Northern
Hemisphere, the daily periods of sunlight continue to lengthen. Our 24-hour
clock is based on the average length of a day with the solar days near the
solstices longer than those near the equinoxes. For Washington, D.C. and
similar latitudes (I've not checked for other areas) the latest sunrise of the
year (ignoring Daylight Saving Time) occurred on January 4. Monday, January 13
(the day of the full Moon), morning twilight will begin at 6:24 a.m. EST,
sunrise will be at 7:26 a.m., solar noon will be at 12:17 p.m. when the Sun
will reach its maximum altitude of 29.8 degrees, sunset will be at 5:08 p.m.,
and evening twilight will end at 6:11 p.m. By Wednesday, February 12 (the day
of the full Moon after next), morning twilight will begin at 6:04 a.m., sunrise
will be at 7:03 a.m., solar noon will be at 12:23 p.m. when the Sun will reach
its maximum altitude of 37.7 degrees, sunset will be at 5:43 p.m., and evening
twilight will end at 6:41 p.m.
This should be a good time for
planet watching, especially with a backyard telescope. Venus, Jupiter, Mars,
Saturn, and Uranus will all be in the evening sky. Brightest will be Venus,
appearing in the southwestern sky. With a telescope you should be able to see
it shift from half-full to a 29% illuminated crescent during this lunar cycle
as it brightens and moves closer to the Earth.
Venus will reach its brightest for
the year just after the full Moon after next. Second in brightness will be
Jupiter in the eastern sky. With a telescope you should be able to see
Jupiter's four bright moons, Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io, noticeably
shifting positions in the course of an evening. Jupiter was at its closest and
brightest in early December. Third in brightness will be Mars low in the
east-northeastern sky. Mars will be at its closest and brightest for the year a
few days after this full Moon. Fourth in brightness will be Saturn, appearing
near Venus in the southwestern sky. With a telescope you should be able to see
Saturn's bright moon Titan and maybe its rings. The rings are appearing very
thin and will be edge-on to the Earth in March 2025. We won't get the
"classic" view of Saturn showing off its rings until 2026. Saturn was
at its closest and brightest in early September and will appear its closest to
Venus (2.2 degrees apart) the evening of January 18. Fifth in brightness and
technically bright enough to see without a telescope (if you are in a very dark
location and your eyesight is better than mine) will be Uranus high in the
southeastern sky. Uranus was at its closest and brightest in mid-November.
During this lunar cycle these
planets will be rotating westward around the pole star Polaris (with Venus
shifting more slowly) making them easier to see earlier in the evening, and
friendlier for backyard stargazing, especially if you have young ones with
earlier bedtimes.
By: Gordon Johnston
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