Full Wolf Moon promises to rise in January

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Each month, I list the names of the full moon derived from several sources, mostly old English, but have never specifically used some of those given by American Indians. I will attempt to rectify this omission during 2003. My sources include Lillian Budd’s “Full Moons: Indian Legends of the Seasons,” “The Farmer’s Almanac,” “Star Date,” and various Internet sites.

The full moon of January is called the Full Wolf Moon, a name attributed to the Passamaquoddy and Potowatomi by two separate sources. It represents a time of cold and deep snows in the dead of winter when packs of hungry wolves roamed through the forests threatening villages and unwary travelers.

Focus on the planets

Mercury may be glimpsed low in the west-southwest during the first week of the new year. It then drops from sight to re-emerge in the morning sky the last week of January, very low in the southeast to the lower left of Venus.

Venus rises around 4 a.m. and blazes in the southeast at dawn. Viewers with telescopes will note that Venus will appear to be exactly half-illuminated on the morning of Jan. 11.

Mars is to the right, or upper right, of Venus this month, where it is relatively dim in comparison to its brilliant companion.

Jupiter rises in the east-northeast about an hour after dusk as January opens but well before darkness falls at month’s end. Many of Jupiter’s moons will be on display, with Callistro undergoing a series of eclipses and transits.

Saturn is in the east to the upper right of Jupiter, where it remains in the sky all night.

The twin facts that Saturn is at its closest to Earth in 30 years, coupled with a maximum ring tilt, makes for spectacular viewing of the ringed planet.

Uranus and Neptune begin the new year low in the west at dusk in the constellation of Capricornus, but they shall soon disappear into the sun’s glare.

Celestial neighborhood

The Apollo 12 mission to the moon ended on Nov. 24, 1969, after having completed the second of six lunar landings. This might have ended the saga of the mission but for a chance discovery made this past September by Canadian astronomer Bill Young. He spotted an object that had been drawn from solar orbit into one about the Earth.

This excited astronomers because it is the first time it was known to have happened and speculation quickly grew as to what it could be. NASA did not rule out an asteroid but light from the object matched the spectrum for titanium oxide, the paint used on the upper stages of the Saturn V rockets that carried the Apollo missions to the Moon.

A quick calculation showed that the object, identified as one of the upper stages of the launch vehicle for Apollo 12, likely escaped Earth orbit in 1971 and circled the sun until last April when the earth’s gravity recaptured it.

It will likely leave again in 2003 and return in the mid-2040s, a process that will be repeated until it eventually crashes into the earth or moon.

January events

1 Sunrise, 7:13 a.m.; sunset, 4:05 p.m.

2 New Moon, 3:24 p.m. Several stars and planets grace the eastern horizon during the early evenings of January. At about 9 p.m., Saturn is well up on the horizon, with Jupiter to its lower left in Leo. Between the two planets are the twins Castor and Pollux. To Jupiter’s right is Sirius, the Dog Star, with Procyon about equidistant between them.

4 The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks near dawn, with a density of about 30 per hour appear to radiate from the constellation Bootes nearly overhead. The near dark sky resulting from the recent new moon aids viewing conditions.

This is also the day that the earth is at perihelion, or closest approach to the sun for the year.

5 Look just to the upper right of the thin crescent moon about an hour after sunset for a glimpse of elusive Mercury.

10 Moon in first quarter, 8:16 a.m.

11 Moon at apogee, or greatest distance from the earth today.

15 Saturn is to the immediate upper right of the moon at dusk, with orange-red Betelgeuse well to the lower right of the ringed planet.

17 Full Moon, 5:49 a.m. The full moon of January is known as the Old Moon or Moon After Yule.

19 The sun enters Capricornus on the ecliptic.

20 The sun enters the astrological sign of Aquarius but, astronomically, has just entered Capricornus.

23 Moon at perigee, or closest approach to the earth today.

25 Moon in last quarter, 3:34 a.m.

29 Look to the southeast about an hour before sunrise, where the crescent Moon is sandwiched between Venus to its upper right and Mercury to the lower left.

31 Sunrise, 6:56 a.m.; sunset, 4:42 p.m.