Christmas full moon: It won’t happen again for almost 20 years

Known as The Full Cold Moon, because it occurs at the beginning of winter, the display will not be repeated until Christmas 2037. In New York, the moon rises at 4:28 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve and sets at 7:03 a.m. EST Christmas Day, while the times are a few minutes earlier in Boston to the northeast, and about 20 minutes later in Atlanta to the southwest.

The full moon photo above comes from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling the moon and sending back data and images of the lunar surface since 2009.

There’s certainly a lot of bad weather on Christmas Day this year, with rain across much of the country during the day and cloudy conditions in the evening.

“But two Metonic cycles ago – 38 years [or 2 X 19 years] – the full moon fell on Christmas Day”. Most people, at least at first glance, can’t seem to tell the difference between a 100 percent illuminated moon and a 90 percent illuminated moon. Prior to 2015, we had an “almost” Christmas full moon in 2007.

The rare phenomenon sprinkled a little extra magic for children gazing out into the sky looking for Father Christmas and his sleigh, especially after glimpsing the International Space Station streaking through the sky on Christmas Eve. This year, the full moon on Christmas Day will be a reality.

At its peak, the moon will be fairly high in the sky, and its brightness should make it visible through the clouds.