1st Christmas full moon in almost 40 years starts tonight

Today marks the first Christmas full moon in 38 years, and it will be the last until 2034.

Finland’s Ursa Astronomical Association, the oldest and largest amateur astronomy association in the country, states on its website that a full moon will shine down on Finland the night of December 25th. The Oneida Nation refers to it as the Resting Moon. Decembers full moon, the last of the year, is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter.

The asteroid, which will grace the sky at 8:03 a.m. Eastern time on Christmas Eve is dubbed 2003 SD220, will not be back again until 2018, according to a news release. “That full moon happened on December 25, 1977”.

On Christmas Day, there will be a full moon, the first since 1977. “The closest this object will come to Santa and his eight tiny reindeer is about 28 times the distance between the Earth and the moon”.

A full cold moon was out shining bright at its peak Friday morning.

John Keller is deputy project scientist for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, which has been orbiting the moon, and studying the lunar surface since 2009. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.