First full moon since 1977 set for holiday — CHRISTMAS

It reached its peak at 4:11 a.m. Mountain time.

It’s a Christmas gift that’s been tucked away under a tree for 38 years.

According to the statement by the USA space agency, it was the first Full Cold Moon since the year of 1977, and this phenomenon will not occur again until 2034. Such phenomenon has not occurred since 1977 and scientists believe that the next time will be on 2034.

The Metonic cycle is the lunar cycle in question.

“Amazingly, the moon’s phases recur on [or near] the same calendar dates every 19 years”. It was discovered around 432 B.C.by the Greek astronomer Meton (although some believe that the Babylonians knew about it before he did). But it’s even more special this week because it’s not normally full right on Christmas Day.

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.

Aw, an asteroid is planning to drop by Earth this Christmas Eve, just like your third cousin who comes over and steals all the frosted Santa cookies before they’re finished. The students took print outs of the full moon days and manually checked the phenomenon.

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. The data for the full moons in the last century was sourced from NASA website. It seems the moon will be more than bright enough to stand in for his glowing red nose. Prior to 2015, we had an “almost” Christmas full moon in 2007.

If you’re looking for Santa and his reindeer, maybe you’ll spot him in front of a full Christmas moon. And when Christmas Day dawns, it will be blazing.