Learn About January's Full 'Wolf Moon' in Slooh Webcast Tonight

Supermoon of Aug. 10, 2014
The perigee full moon or "supermoon" of Aug. 10, 2014, as seen from Washington. (Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

You can get the skinny on the full moon of January, known as the "Wolf Moon," during a free webcast by the Slooh Community Observatory tonight (Jan. 12).

The show will feature live views of the moon, which officially reached its full phase this morning, from Slooh's telescopes in Chile and Spain's Canary Islands. You can watch the webcast at Slooh.com, beginning at 8:30 p.m. EST (0130 GMT on Friday, Jan. 13).

You can also watch the full moon show here at Space.com, courtesy of Slooh.

Slooh host Gerard Monteux, Slooh astronomer Bob Berman and Slooh's "human spirit correspondent," Helen Avery, will discuss historical and cultural components of the Wolf Moon and other full moons during the webcast, which will also feature live footage of real-life wolves.

"Myths and legends surrounding wolves and their interaction with the moon run deep through a number of cultures," Slooh representatives wrote in a statement.

"From werewolves to lupe-garu, the idea that the moon had an effect on men pops up in one form or another across the globe, dating back all the way to antiquity," they added. "Helen will explore a number of these tales throughout the show to help our viewers decide if they or their neighbors could be one of these mythical beasts."

All of the year's full moons have names, which were given to them by Native Americans living in the central and eastern parts of North America. For example, August's full moon is known as the Sturgeon Moon, and September's is the Corn Moon or Harvest Moon.

Editor's note: If you snap an awesome photo of the moon that you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a potential story or gallery, send images and comments to managing editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

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Mike Wall
Senior Space Writer

Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.