This full moon meets the celestial twins this week. The chart shows the view looking southeast from London on January 24 at 2000 GMT, when the full moon will sit directly below the stars Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini.
The story of the twin half-brothers of Greek and Roman mythology is that Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, while Pollux was the divine son of Zeus. Pollux requested that he be able to share his immortality with his brother, so Zeus turned them into stars.
The moon will shine brightly, with 99.1% of its visible surface illuminated. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, it will be the wolf moon. Although commonly used only for the full moon, the name refers to the entire lunar month, a period also known as a moon.
Moon names mostly come from North American sources, both indigenous and colonial, as well as European sources. It is said that the wolf moon got its name because of the greater likelihood of hearing wolves howling in the dead of winter.
This particular full moon is the first of 12 that will occur until 2024. The moon is also clearly visible from the southern hemisphere.
