A beautiful full wolf moon rose above the hills to the east of my home this evening. After countless weeks of cloudy, snowy skies, it was a joy to see anything in the night sky. I actually noticed the moon a while earlier (while east of the hills seen in the foreground. With a much lower eastern horizon, I knew I was going to have a nice shot on my hands when I got back home. NOTE: clear skies typically usher in arctic temperatures in this area. Temperatures were already down into the mid-teens by the time I took this shot. Single digits or even negative numbers are not out of the question as the night progresses.

The Full Wolf Moon is the name given by Native Americans to the January full moon. With deep snow blanketing their hunting grounds, I’m sure that the wolves howled a bit more intensely as the January moon rose. This moon was also referred to as the Full Snow Moon. This is a term that is quite fitting for this area, as there is easily 30″ of snow on the ground… with accumulations to climb (perhaps significantly) before they begin to drop in earnest.

Astro Photo Details:

* Designation: The Moon
* Magnitude: roughly mag -12
* Size: roughly 1/2*

Astro Photo Processing Details

* Canon Digital Rebel XTi
* First 1/160s at ISO100 ~ 80mm
* PhotoShop CS2 Curves & Levels (mac version)