First Full Moon On Christmas Since 1977

The other cool thing about this full moon is that the moon will be far to the north. This is because the earth’s axis is tilted to its orbit around the sun.

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.

This Christmas you can experience an event that hasn’t happened since 1977 and won’t occur again until 2034 – a full moon on Christmas Day. This moon is called Full Cold Moon because of its full size and the timing of the start of winter.

In a blog post, Nasa’s Nancy Neal Jones, from the Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland said: ‘As you gaze up at the Christmas moon, take note that Nasa has a spacecraft now orbiting Earth’s moon.’ Nasa’s John Keller added: ‘As we look at the moon on such an occasion, it’s worth remembering that the moon is more than just a celestial neighbour. Using the Deep Space Network’s 70-meter antenna at Goldstone, NASA managed to snap a few photos of this asteroid, which poses no threat to Earth in the near future. Known as a full cold moon, the last of the year, it peaked Friday morning at 6:11 a.m. EST.

EarthSky report, “The December 25, 2015 full moon is the Western Hemisphere’s first full moon on Christmas Day since 1977”.

“But two Metonic cycles ago – 38 years [or 2 X 19 years] – the full moon fell on Christmas Day”.