There was a huge full moon in Sheffield last night and tonight’s could be even bigger
and live on Freeview channel 276
The January full moon, also known as the Wolf Moon, will peak this evening at around 7.21pm (January 10).
Amateur astronomers will be able to start looking out for the moon earlier than that, with it expected to be visible in skies to the northeast from 3.51pm.
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Hide AdDeceptively, the moon appeared full yesterday, however it had not yet reached its first peak of 2020.
That beautiful lunar display was in fact the moon at around 98 or 99 per cent of its whole in spite of its ‘full’ appearance.
According to astronomy experts, it is typical for the moon to appear this close to fullness on the days before and after the actual full moon.
The full moon will also coincide with a lunar eclipse this evening.
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Hide AdThe Wolf Moon will pass through a shadowy region of space behind Earth in what is known as a ‘penumbral eclipse’.
As it passes opposite the sun it will be in partial shadow of the earth for around four hours.
This kind of eclipse only slightly dims the brightness of the moon’s surface to a viewer from Earth.
It is often close to unnoticeable to anybody but the most adept astronomers.
The penumbral eclipse is expected to last from 5.07pm GMT to 9.12pm tonight.