Well, what do you know? Looks like clear skies are in the forecast on the Humboldt coast tonight, so you might as well cast your eyes skyward this evening to catch the slightly rare occurrence the heavens are brewing up. 

For starters, tonight is 2025’s “wolf moon.” (Awooo!) That’s the name given to the first full moon of the calendar year, so named because long ago people believed that wolves were more likely to be heard howling during winter months. (Is that true? Seems dubious.)

But adding to the sky fun: at approximately 6:04 p.m. tonight Humboldt-time, the moon will occult Mars — which is just a fancy way to say that the moon will pass in front of Mars. (A more fun way to say that, we’d argue, is to say that the moon will EAT Mars, but astronomers like the language they like.) 

After being consumed, Mars will spend over a half an hour inside the moon’s cheese-filled digestive tract until 6:43 p.m., when … well, if we were to continue with our analogy, you could say the moon will… eh, never mind.

Mars will reappear at 6:43 p.m., children. Have fun. 

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BY THE WAY: There’s even more reasons to stare upward this month. Four planets will be especially bright — a “planetary parade,” according to the excitable NASA nerd in the clip below. Watch and learn!