First Christmas full moon in nearly 40 years

Known as The Full Cold Moon, because it occurs at the beginning of winter, the display will not be repeated until Christmas 2037. That’s a long time to wait, so make sure to look up to the skies on Christmas Day.

OK, so not everything has changed.

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. “The moon’s peak this year will occur at 6:11 a.m. EST”, NASA says. The prophets of space doom seem to forget that the Earth’s moon is 27 times closer to our planet than SD220, and over 1,700 times larger in diameter.

Santa Claus will be riding his sleigh across the Full Cold Moon.

Sometimes the Full Cold Moon is called the Long Night Moon, because compared to the other seasons the nights are longer and the Moon spends longer above the horizon opposite a low Sun.

For more moon trivia watch Slooh’s livestream on Christmas Eve above.

A full moon rises next to a digital stock market feed in London’s Trafalgar Square, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015. Thus it happens earlier in the west and later in the east. Note that for St. John’s and much of the island of Newfoundland, the exact moment of the Full Moon will happen after the moon has set.

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

By the evening of Christmas Day, it will be starting to wane slightly and won’t be as perfectly round, though most casual observers probably won’t be able to see the difference then either.

You’ve heard of full moons, but Strawberry moons?

NASA has released a stunning new view of the Earth taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), an unmanned spacecraft that’s been circling, analyzing and photographing the moon since 2009.

Though Vancouverites may still get a chance to see the moon when they wake up on Christmas morning, as Environment Canada is calling for clear skies and sunshine on Friday.