What is a Wolf Supermoon?

The January 2026 Wolf Supermoon peaked in brightness around January 2–3 (IST), combining a seasonal “Wolf Moon” full moon with a perigee-time “supermoon.”

About Wolf Supermoon

Wolf Moon: The “Wolf Moon” is a traditional name for January’s first full moon, associated with winter folklore that describes wolves being heard more frequently.
Full Moon: The Moon is opposite the Sun with Earth in between, making the entire lunar face illuminated.
Supermoon: A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with perigee in its elliptical orbit.
Visible Effect: It can look up to ~14% larger and ~30% brighter than the faintest full moon (near apogee, i.e., “micromoon”), though the change is subtle to the naked eye.
Horizon Effect: The Moon often appears bigger near the horizon due to a visual perception effect in our brain, not because the Moon actually grows in size.

Perigee: Closest point of the Moon’s orbit to Earth.
Apogee: Farthest point of the Moon’s orbit from Earth; a full moon near apogee is called a micromoon.

Blood Moon: A total lunar eclipse where Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light and lets red light reach the Moon, giving it a reddish colour. It occurs only during a total lunar eclipse.
Blue Moon: The second full moon in a calendar month (modern definition), which happens about once every 2–3 years. It has no colour change.
Black Moon: An event where a calendar month has no full moon, or the 2nd new moon in a month.
New Moon: The Moon lies between Earth and the Sun, making it invisible from Earth.