Why tonight’s ‘Wolf Moon’ is special - how to see the first full moon of the year

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The first full Moon of the year will illuminate our sky tonight. Named the ‘Wolf Moon’, tonight’s full Moon is the first of 2025 and the second of winter, marking a highly anticipated date in the lunar calendar.

A full Moon happens when the side of the Moon facing the Earth is fully lit up by the Sun. It rises around sunset and sets around sunrise.

Because of the gravity interplay between the Moon and the Earth, the Moon is slowed into a rotation at the same speed of Earth – a process known as being ‘tidally locked’, according to NASA Moon-watchers are therefore always able to see the same side of the Moon as the terminator (the line between the lit and shadowed sides of the moon) moves across the Moon’s surface throughout the lunar month.

During a full Moon, the Earth-facing side of the Moon is fully lit, revealing its characteristic lunar landscapes that many in the Northern Hemisphere call the ‘Man in the Moon’.