If you have clear skies on Monday night and at least a few extra moments to spare, stop and take in the splendour of the Full Moon.
Rising just before sunset on January 13, the Full Wolf Moon will be up all night, and will slip below the western horizon only after the Sun rises. Plus, if you watch closely throughout the night, you may spot the planet Mars dip behind the Moon, only to re-emerge a short time later.
Why is this the “Wolf Moon”?
In the early 20th century, the Maine Farmer’s Almanac began printing a list of names for the 12 Full Moons of the year. These were taken from various sources, such as Indigenous lunar calendars, the Anglo-Saxon lunar calendar, and Colonial and European folklore. Since then, other almanacs have picked up the practice, and these names have become part of the public lexicon.
2025 Full Moon Names – with eclipses
The 12 Full Moons of 2025 are presented here, along with their popular names and any notable characteristics, such as lunar eclipses, micromoons, or supermoons. Credit: Scott Sutherland/NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
The January Full Moon is known as the Wolf Moon, as this time of year typically marks when wolves become more active, and their howls are most often heard throughout the night.
The Old Farmer’s Almanac says: “The howling of wolves was often heard at this time of year. It was traditionally thought that wolves howled due to hunger, but we now know that wolves use howls to define territory, locate pack members, reinforce social bonds, and gather for hunting.”
While titles such as Harvest Moon and Hunter’s Moon specifically refer to the Full Moon, the names taken from indigenous sources actually do not. Instead, they are the lunar calendar equivalent of the names of the months in the Gregorian calendar. Each refers to one of the roughly 29-day periods of the lunar cycle, between one New Moon and the next, known as lunations. Thus, even though this year’s Full Wolf Moon is on the night of January 13-14, in the 2025 lunar calendar, the Wolf Moon is really from December 30 (the last New Moon) through January 29 (the next New Moon).
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It’s not alone!
The Full Moon isn’t the only thing we’ll see in the sky on Monday night.
As the Moon tracks across the sky, it will be located near the constellation Gemini. Nearby, will be Orion, along with the Winter Triangle of bright stars Procyon, Sirius, and Betelgeuse.
Jan 13 2025 – Full Moon and Planets – 730 pm – Stellarium
The night sky at 7:30 p.m. local time on January 13, 2025 is represented here, with the Full Moon, planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus visible, along with several of the brightest stars. (Stellarium)
Early in the evening, Venus will be visible in the southwest sky for a few hours after sunset, with Saturn located nearby. Jupiter can be found towards the south at that time.
Look closely and you may spot tiny red Mars right next to the Full Moon.
Mars is at its closest and brightest in our sky right now, as it reaches Opposition — the planet’s closest approach to Earth — on January 12. The last time Mars was this bright was in early December of 2022, and it won’t be this close and bright again until February 2027.
Mars Opposition – Jan 12 2025 – NASA
Mars Opposition, when the Sun, Earth and Mars align perfectly, on January 12, 2025, at a distance of around 96,266,229 km from Earth. (NASA/Scott Sutherland)
Mars reaches opposition — on average — every twenty-six months, and due to Mars’ more elliptical orbit, its distance from Earth changes each time the two align together with the Sun. The closest opposition in recent times was on July 27, 2018, when the two planets were separated by only 57,774,697 km (the closest since 1971). Each opposition from 2020 through 2027, that distance increases, after which the planets draw closer together until they reach a record closest distance, of just 56,908,526 km, on September 15, 2035. Then the pattern starts all over again.
The night after opposition, Mars will rise along with the Full Moon and pull off a special vanishing act known as an occultation.
Read more: Why does the rising Moon look so big?! It’s the mysterious Moon Illusion!
Hiding Mars
Throughout the night, Mars won’t be just near the Full Moon. For anywhere from around 5 minutes up to 75 minutes, Canadians will see the Red Planet actually duck behind the Moon and completely disappear from sight!
Mars Occultation Jan 13 2025 – Stellarium
The path of Mars behind the Moon on January 13-14, 2025 is shown here for selected communities across Canada. While the planet just skims behind the limb of the Moon from Calgary, the farther east and south the observer is, the longer Mars stays behind the Moon. The timing listed is approximate for these locations, and nearby areas will have similar timing. (Stellarium/Scott Sutherland)
Exactly how long this Lunar Occultation of Mars lasts depends on your location, with shorter times in the farther west and the farther north you are, and longer durations farther to the east and south.
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Penticton 6:31-6:35 p.m. PST
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Calgary 7:30-7:41 p.m. MST
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Saskatoon 8:28-8:52 p.m. CST
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Regina 8:21-8:57 p.m. CST
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Winnipeg 8:19-9:04 p.m. CST
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Thunder Bay 9:17-10:14 p.m. EST
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Sudbury 9:20-10:25 p.m. EST
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Windsor 9:12-10:22 p.m. EST
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Toronto 9:18-10:28 p.m. EST
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Montreal 9:26-10:37 p.m. EST
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Fredericton 10:35-11:47 p.m. AST
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Halifax 10:39-11:54 p.m. AST
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St. John’s 11:29 p.m.-12:35 a.m. NST
Similar to the curving path of totality for a solar eclipse, these events have a path of occultation. However, unlike the eclipse’s path of totality, which is only a few hundred kilometres wide, this path of occultation covers a good portion of North America, the north Atlantic Ocean, and northwestern Africa.
The northern edge of that path crosses into Canada in southern British Columbia and tracks northeast to Hudson’s Bay before dipping south again. It passes just north of Penticton, crosses Alberta just north of Calgary, then through northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, across Hudson’s Bay and northern Quebec, and then down through the north Atlantic Ocean towards Africa. Along that edge, Mars will only briefly dip behind the limb of the Moon, emerging a short time later. Anywhere north of that line will not see the Moon occult Mars.
Those south and east of that line will have a chance to spot this phenomenon, with those farthest east and south having the longest duration.
According to Dominic Ford of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, UK, Canada will have to wait until the late 2030s or early 2040s to see a similar Mars occultation. Ford’s In-The-Sky.org website has a few that are poorly timed or far too remote for practical viewing, but there are three coming up — one in 2039 and two in 2042 — to watch for.
The first of these, on December 4, 2039, favours western and northern Canada. On the morning of January 9, 2042, there will be one right at moonset for western Canada. Finally, an occultation on February 5, 2042 will have similar visibility to the January 13 2025 occultation, except it will be shifted west slightly, so as to include more of southern B.C., but exclude regions north of Halifax and across Newfoundland.
(Thumbnail image depicts moments before the Jan 13-14 Lunar Occultation of Mars, simulated with the free planetarium software, Stellarium)
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