a maximum altitude of about 71 degrees; observers just a bit farther south in Miami, Florida, will see it reach 87 degrees — nearly straight up at the zenith at local midnight. In the Southern Hemisphere, the reverse is true, as it is summer there. In Cape Town, South Africa, the full moon will reach a maximum altitude of only 32 degrees at 12:03 a.m. local time on Jan. 11.

Visible planets and constellations

Northern Hemisphere skies are full of bright constellations — Orion, Taurus, Gemini and Canis Major are all in roughly the same patch of sky. Each is made up of enough first- and second-magnitude stars that they are visible even from light-polluted locations; the three stars marking Orion's belt are obvious even in cities like New Yorkor Paris.

On the night of the full moon, two planets will also be apparent. In New York, just as the moon rises in the east, Venus will be in the western sky; the planet sets at 7:42 p.m. local time. Mars, meanwhile, rises at 4:04 a.m. on Jan. 11, while the moon sets at 8:07 a.m. (sunrise is at 7:19 a.m. local time).

Jupiter and Saturn are both close to the sun in the sky; Jupiter rises on Jan. 11 at 6:39 a.m. local time in New York, and Saturn sets on Jan. 10, only 6 minutes after the sun does. Jupiter will be only 6.4 degrees above the horizon at sunrise, according to heavens-above.com calculations.

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The Wolf Moon

The January full moon is often called the Wolf Moon,