--- title: Supermoon 2018: New Year's Day 'Wolf Moon' Will Be Visible description: 2018 will get off to a celestial start with the appearance of a bigger and brighter supermoon — this time nicknamed the "wolf moon." canonical: https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-29T16:53:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:41:52.246Z article:section: Science og:title: The First Supermoon of 2018 Arrives on New Year's Day og:description: It will also be a "wolf moon" og:url: https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dbd1f669cc86194/6988f37e656a3fcfbdbd2ac2/neil-degrasse-tyson-supermoon-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: UAE-MOON og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The First Supermoon of 2018 Arrives on New Year's Day twitter:description: It will also be a "wolf moon" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dbd1f669cc86194/6988f37e656a3fcfbdbd2ac2/neil-degrasse-tyson-supermoon-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The First Supermoon of 2018 Arrives on New Year's Day ## Video: 2017 Supermoon Seen from Around the World [Watch (HLS stream): 2017 Supermoon Seen from Around the World](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RYO3otbn.m3u8) (0:59)  _Published 2017-12-04. 2017 Supermoon seen from space, London, Washington, D.C., and Japan._ by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Dec 29, 2017 4:53 PM CUT  A picture taken on Dec. 3, 2017 shows a "supermoon" rising over the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi. A picture taken on Dec. 3, 2017 shows a "supermoon" rising over the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.Giuseppe Cacace—AFP/Getty Images by [Aric Jenkins](/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Dec 29, 2017 4:53 PM CUT The new year will be off to a celestial start with the appearance of a bigger and brighter [supermoon](http://time.com/4570604/supermoon-views-video/ "undefined") — this time nicknamed the “wolf moon.” The supermoon is a nickname of its own, referring to a full moon that appears larger and more luminous due to its increased proximity to the Earth. The wolf moon, however, refers to the first full moon of the new year, which so happens to fall on New Year’s Day this time around, [according to NASA.](https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/news-articles/a-supermoon-trilogy "undefined") The second of a “supermoon trilogy” that began with a [supermoon at this beginning of this month](http://time.com/5046330/what-is-supermoon-2017/ "undefined"), the New Year’s supermoon should look about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual, the space agency reports. The final installment of the supermoon series will kick off on Jan. 31, which will be “extra special,” NASA says. That’s because the Jan. 31 supermoon will coincide with a [total lunar eclipse](http://time.com/3769545/blood-moon-lunar-eclipse-livestream/ "undefined"), which will give the moon a reddish glow due to the sunlight reflected by the Earth’s atmosphere. Another nickname will come into play here, as totally eclipsed moons are sometimes called “blood moons.” But that’s not the only label of Jan. 31’s moon — that full moon also happens to be the second full moon of the month, an event that is often referred to as a “blue moon.” This means the 31st’s supermoon will be a “super blue blood” moon, according to NASA. It may seem like the 31st’s moon is the lunar spectacle to keep your eyes on, but don’t forget about the one on New Year’s Day — it could be a great way to commemorate the start of 2018. “The supermoons are a great opportunity for people to start looking at the Moon, not just that once but every chance they have!” said Noah Petro, a research scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, according to the space agency. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/"},"headline":"The First Supermoon of 2018 Arrives on New Year's Day","datePublished":"2017-12-29T16:53:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:41:52.246Z","description":"It will also be a \"wolf moon,\" the first full moon of the new year","url":"https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/","keywords":["supermoon","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dbd1f669cc86194/6988f37e656a3fcfbdbd2ac2/neil-degrasse-tyson-supermoon-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Aric Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8dbd1f669cc86194/6988f37e656a3fcfbdbd2ac2/neil-degrasse-tyson-supermoon-2017.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"UAE-MOON","caption":"2017 Supermoon rises over Abu Dhabi","creditText":"Giuseppe Cacace—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supermoon/","name":"supermoon"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/","name":"The First Supermoon of 2018 Arrives on New Year's Day"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"2017 Supermoon Seen from Around the World","description":"2017 Supermoon seen from space, London, Washington, D.C., and Japan.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RYO3otbn/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-12-04T06:40:41.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RYO3otbn.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5082027/wolf-moon-supermoon-january-2017/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```