Night Sky Photography -- 01-06-2023 -- The Full Micro Wolf Moon & Gemini Twin Stars

Well good evening, fellow stargazers!

This evening clear skies afforded me the opportunity to capture some outstanding shots of the first Full Moon of 2023.

The January Full Moon is referred to as the Full Wolf Moon in North America according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

This year the Full Wolf Moon appears slightly smaller that normal in the night sky because our lovely Luna is currently at its farthest point (apogee) from our Earth in its elliptical orbit around our planet at about 252,145 miles (or 405,789 kilometers) distance at the time of totality, making this year's Full Wolf Moon a Micromoon (or Apogee Moon)....a Micro Wolf Moon. 

Because a Micromoon is further away, it looks approximately 14% smaller than a Supermoon. The February and March Full Moons will also be micromoons, although they will be slightly closer to the Earth in orbit.

The following are the photos I took of the January 2023 Full Wolf Moon, taken between 6:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST.

My final photo is a picture of the Full Wolf Moon near the twin stars of Pollux and Castor in the Constellation Gemini the Twins. The rest of the stars of the constellation itself are lost in the glare of the beautiful moonlight, though the two main stars themselves are still easily visible.

The brightest star in Gemini is Pollux, a red giant star that sits closest to our Sun at a distance of about 34 light-years (or 10.4 parsecs) which is about two times the mass of our Sun and nine times the estimated radius.

The second-brightest is Castor, which sits a bit farther away at about 51 light-years (or 15.6 parsecs) from the Sun.  

The Full Wolf Moon -- the first official Full Moon of the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere -- quite fittingly rests just inside the Winter Circle asterism. By tomorrow evening, Saturday the 7th of January, Luna's path will take her past the twins and just outside of the Winter Circle as she begins waning towards her New Moon Phase two weeks from now on Saturday the 17th of January.

Most years there are 12 full moons, one for each month. The year 2023 however will have 13 full moons, with two in August. The second of which is known as a Full Blue Moon, or Blue Moon....like in the classic phrase "once in a blue moon" which only happens about once every two-and-a-half years, like an astronomical leap-year of sorts.

The Blue Moon, which will occur this year on the evening of Wednesday, August 30th, will also be a Supermoon when our lovely Luna will be at her closest point to the Earth (Perigee) in orbit at a distance of 222,043 miles (or 357,344 kilometers).

The dates of the 2023 full moons.
Image courtesy of facebook.com.

Well folks, have a wonderful evening and y'all be sure to keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!