Merry Moon: Rare full moon on Christmas Day

Today’s full moon is the first to appear on Christmas Day for 38 years, and as far as rare astronomical occurences go, it’s pretty easy to spot.

This is the 13th full moon of the year.

Fishing is best between the new and full Moon.

And if you miss the opportunity tomorrow, you will have to wait for another 19 years, for, the next Christmas full moon will not occur before the year 1934.

This full moon should peak at 6:11 a.m., about an hour before the sun rises at 7:12 a.m. The last time there was a full moon on 25 December was 1977, and there won’t be another one until 2034.

If you make it outside to have a look, NASA also suggests looking out for its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Sometimes, it is even called Full Cold Moon, Full Long Nights Moon or the Moon before Yule. These information are considered “invaluable” by researchers and scientists as mankind attempts to accumulate and interpret knowledge on the moon. And fullness is implied in the epic poem The Night Before Christmas with the lines, “The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, gave the luster of mid-day to objects below”, as Space.com notes. That is the length of something called the Metonic Cycle, which is when the moon’s phases start repeating on the same day.

Whether or not we can see the moon in the Central Okanagan is to be seen.

The last time we had a full Christmas moon was in 1977.

Coincidentally, the reappearance of the Full Cold Moon occurs in the same time as yet another phenomenal event: the return of Star Wars in the big screen. On Friday, Christmas Day, skies will begin to clear in the afternoon and a high of 5°C is expected.