When and where to see the Wolf Moon 2027
The exact moment of full moon is Friday, January 22, 2027 at 7:17 AM in New York. The best night to watch is Friday, January 22, when the Moon comes up at 5:24 PM, low in the east-northeast, about 23 minutes after sunset. It climbs to about 66° above the horizon around 12:46 AM and sets around sunrise the next morning.
A full moon looks full for about three nights. From New York the Moon is 99% lit when it rises the evening before and 97% the evening after, and on those nights it rises 82 minutes and 80 minutes later each evening. Those long gaps come from the steep angle of the Moon's path to the evening horizon at this time of year.
The Moon is at a declination of +20.9° this time, well north of the celestial equator, so for the Northern Hemisphere it rides high and stays up a long time. It sits in front of the stars of Cancer, close to the Beehive Cluster (5.3° away), Pollux (10.3° away).
| City | Exact full moon (local time) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Friday, January 22, 2027, 4:17 AM |
| New York | Friday, January 22, 2027, 7:17 AM |
| London | Friday, January 22, 2027, 12:17 PM |
| Berlin | Friday, January 22, 2027, 1:17 PM |
| New Delhi | Friday, January 22, 2027, 5:47 PM |
| Tokyo | Friday, January 22, 2027, 9:17 PM |
| Sydney | Friday, January 22, 2027, 11:17 PM |
Why is it called the Wolf Moon?
The Wolf Moon is the traditional name for the January full moon. The name was popularized in the 20th century by the Old Farmer's Almanac and the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which drew on a mix of Algonquin and other Native American month names and on names used by colonial Americans and earlier in Europe.
The usual story is that wolves were heard howling more often around villages in midwinter, and older writers put that down to hunger. Biologists see it differently: wolves howl to keep a pack together and to mark territory, and January falls in their breeding season, when howling and travelling increase. Either way, a cold, still January night carries sound a long way.
Other names for the January full moon
The almanac names are one tradition among many. Native American peoples used hundreds of moon names that followed their own local seasons, and the attributions below are those given by the Old Farmer's Almanac:
- Center Moon: Assiniboine, the middle of winter
- Freeze Up Moon: Algonquin
- Greetings Moon: Western Abenaki
- Hard Moon: Dakota
- Spirit Moon: Ojibwe
- Moon after Yule: old English usage
January in nature and the sky
January is the coldest month across most of North America and Europe. The days are lengthening again after the solstice, but slowly at first, and the ground is often frozen or snow-covered, which makes the full moon look brighter still: fresh snow reflects about 80 to 90% of the moonlight that falls on it.
Midwinter full moons ride high. A full moon sits opposite the Sun, so in January it follows the path the Sun takes in July, climbing far higher than a summer full moon and staying up for 14 hours or more at mid-northern latitudes.
Festivals on the Wolf Moon 2027
Many of the world's calendars are lunar, so festivals around the globe fall on this same full moon. Dates below were checked against published calendars; where India and the US keep different dates, both are given.
Paush Purnima
January 22, 2027
The Hindu full moon of Paush, a major day for ritual bathing at the confluence of rivers at Prayagraj, where the annual Magh Mela gathering is held in winter.
Thaipusam
January 22, 2027
The Tamil festival in honour of Lord Murugan, famous for its processions in Malaysia, Singapore and Tamil Nadu, falls on this full moon.
Duruthu Poya
January 22, 2027
Sri Lanka's January full moon holiday, marking the Buddha's first visit to the island, celebrated with the Duruthu Perahera procession in Kelaniya.
Tu BiShvat
Sunset January 22 to nightfall January 23, 2027
The Jewish New Year of the Trees falls on the 15th of Shevat, and like every Jewish festival on the 15th of a month, it comes at full moon.
Supermoon, micromoon or neither?
The Wolf Moon 2027 is 357,635 km from Earth, centre to centre. That is closer than our supermoon line of 362,500 km, so it counts as a supermoon: about 7% wider and 16% brighter than a full moon at the average distance. Of the 12 full moons of 2027, it is the 1st closest. The biggest is the Wolf Moon at 357,635 km and the smallest the Buck Moon at 405,968 km.
The Wolf Moon from the Southern Hemisphere
South of the equator the January full moon falls in high summer, on short warm nights, and rides low across the northern sky like a winter Sun. Names such as Wolf Moon describe the northern season, so some Southern Hemisphere calendars swap them with the July names. The full moon happens at the same instant worldwide; in Sydney it is Friday, January 22, 2027 at 11:17 PM, and the Moon climbs to about 34° there that night, compared with 66° from New York. South of the equator the Moon also looks upside down to northern eyes, with the dark "Man in the Moon" features flipped.
Before and after the Wolf Moon
More: All full moon names · Moon calendar 2027 · Next full moon · Moon phase today