January's full Wolf Moon leaps past the Eiffel Tower in stunning photo of Paris skyline

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Photographer Martin Giraud captured a breathtaking view of January's full "Wolf Moon" rising over the Paris skyline on the evening of Jan. 3 as it passed behind the iconic iron silhouette of the Eiffel Tower and the dome of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.

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Giraud's composite shot presented the moon as it broke free of the horizon to track a path through the pastel-colored sunset sky, as an atmospheric effect called Rayleigh scattering bestowed its disk with a stunning orange-yellow hue. The moon's outsized profiles appear subtly warped by their proximity to the horizon and the dark silhouettes of lunar maria (seas) can be picked out darkening its surface, where ancient lava once flowed into impact basins billions of years ago.

"Before the new year, I noticed on my planning app that the first full moon of the year, also a supermoon, would align perfectly with the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica from a spot I had previously scouted," Giraud told Space.com in an email. "Despite the cold and the snow in the morning, the weather forecast for Paris announced a completely cloudless sky, so I decided to give it a try."

Giraud used a Canon 6D camera with a Samyang telephoto lens with an ISO of 100 to snap the individual frames used in the creation of his composite photo. "This image was taken with a 150–600mm lens at 500mm," Giraud continued. "The Eiffel Tower was 6.3 km [3.9 miles] away from my position, and the Sacré-Cœur Basilica 11.1 km [6.8 miles] away, which explains why the Moon appears so large in the frame."

January's full moon is often referred to as the "Wolf Moon" which references the packs of predators that can sometimes be heard howling in the scarcity of winter. It occurred close to perigee — the point in its monthly orbit when it is closest to Earth — giving rise to an impressive supermoon, which can be up to 14% larger than the smallest moon of the year.

Feeling inspired to try your hand at astrophotography? Then be sure to read our guide bursting with handy tips on how to photograph Earth's natural satellite, along with our picks of the best cameras and lenses for capturing the majesty of the night sky.

Editor's Note: If you snap an image of the moon and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s) and comments, along with your name and location to [email protected].