2010 Wolf Moon will appear big and very bright tonight. The first full moon of the year is also known as the wolf moon. The moon appears wider and fuller than any other moon of the year. The name wolf moon came from the hungry wolf packs that howled at the moon near Native American villages hundreds of years ago. Wolf Moon is also referred to as the old moon and moon after Yule.
This full moon will appear 14% wider and 30% brighter than a typical full moon, according to Spaceweather.com
According to Yahoo Space:
The moon is, on average, 238,855 miles (384,400 km) from Earth. The moon's orbit around Earth – which causes it to go through all its phases once every 29.5 days – is not a perfect circle, but rather an ellipse. One side of the orbit is 31,070 miles (50,000 km) closer than the other.
So in each orbit, the moon reaches this closest point to us, called perigee. Once or twice a year, perigee coincides with a full moon, as it will tonight, making the moon bigger and brighter than any other full moons during the year.
In February the full moon is called the ice moon.
The weather in Salt Lake City, Utah is calling for partly cloudy skies tonight, lows in the 20s. The Salt Lake City skies should be perfect for viewing the Wolf Moon.
If you enjoyed this article, please click on the subscribe button above to receive an email when new articles are published by this examiner.
Sources: Yahoo Space and Spaceweather
Other articles from this examiner:
Doctors in Haiti may be disciplined for drinking, posing with guns and Facebook photos
Video: ManCrunch, gay dating commercial rejected by CBS for Super Bowl Sunday air time
2010 Honda Fit recall announced Friday
Neilson ratings: Conan had largest rating his last night of hosting the Tonight Show
Video: Jay Leno appeared on Oprah to discuss Conan, Letterman and NBC
Movies shown Thursday night at Sundance and how to get tickets
Utah House approves new abortion Wimmer’s bill
Video: Ford Motor is on a roll and makes a profit in 2009, for the first time in four years














Comments
i noticed last night that all through the night it was still pretty bright outside and when i went out to look i noticed there was no clouds in sight either why was this lol
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!