A full moon occurs when the moon sits opposite the sun in Earth's sky — an event that occurs just once in each of its 27-day recurring orbits — causing the lunar disk to appear fully-lit from our perspective. January's full moon officially reaches peak illumination at 5:03 a.m. EST (1003 GMT) on Jan. 3, though the lunar disk will appear practically full to the casual observer on the surrounding nights. Local moonrise and moonset times will depend on your location.
January's full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, in reference to the hungry predators that have been known to howl during the long winter nights. It is also sometimes known by its Anglo-Saxon name, the "Moon After Yule", according to TimeandDate and as the "Severe Moon" by North America's indigenous Dakota people to reflect the bitter cold of the month, per the Old Farmers Almanac.
Source: www.space.com
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