December’s full moon is the last supermoon of the year. Here’s what to know
Keep your eyes up to the sky this week to see the last supermoon of the year.
December’s full supermoon, also called a cold moon, will be at its peak around 6:14 p.m. ET on Thursday, according to EarthSky.
“On Thursday, the moon will rise just as the sun sets, and that’s why it’s full, because it’s exactly opposite in the sky from where the sun is,” said Noah Petro, project scientist for NASA’s Artemis III mission, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole in 2027.
The moon will also appear full on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
This will be the last of three consecutive supermoons this year. A supermoon occurs when the moon reaches perigee, or its closest point to our planet, making it appear larger and fuller.
The nickname cold moon indicates that it is the full moon event closest to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The solstice, which will occur on December 21, marks the start of winter in the hemisphere.
Native tribes have different nicknames for the December full moon. For example, the Cherokee call it the snow moon while the Abenaki tribe calls it the winter moon.
“The brightness of these supermoons in winter, especially when it’s very cold, like it is now, I think can be enhanced because the trees don’t block the light,” Petro said.
Memories of the Apollo missions
The December full moon occurs near the anniversaries of the historic Apollo 8 and Apollo 17 missions.
Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968 and sent a crew of three astronauts into lunar orbit. Astronauts shared a special holiday message from space on Christmas Eve. Apollo 17, launched on December 7, 1972, marked the final astronaut landing on the lunar surface.
The December full moon also comes before the launch of Artemis II, scheduled between February and April 2026, which will send a crew of four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the Moon.
“I would encourage people to go out this week, look at the Moon and bask in its glory. Think back to what we did in 1968 and 1972 with Apollo 8 and Apollo 17, and then turn the corner and say, hey, we may be only two full moons away from sending humans back to fly by the Moon and get a close-up view of the lunar surface from Artemis II,” said Petro.
Upcoming celestial events
Here are the peak dates for the last two meteor showers of the year, according to the American Meteor Society and EarthSky.
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