EYES TO THE SKIES FOR DECEMBERS FULL “COLD” MOON! PLUS A LUNAR STANDSTILL/LUNISTICE AND OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS!🔭💙🌕✨ - 15-16/12/24
On the evening of the 15th of December into the morning of the 16th, we will hopefully be treated to views of a beautiful full moon, weather permitting of course.
Although the full Moon may not be the astronomers or astrophotographers best of friends (unless you are wanting to observe/photograph the Moon!), the full Moon always makes for a beautiful sight in the night sky and is an important marker of the seasons for many people.
Tonight’s full Moon will also appear particularly high in the sky for the whole time it is visible, reaching 63 degrees high in the sky. This is due to the Moon being at one of its most extreme points in a 18.6 year orbital cycle, resulting in what is known as a “Lunar Standstill” or “Lunistice”.
If you would like more information on this December’s full Cold Moon, including what a full moon and Lunar Standstill/Lunistice is, why it is known as the Cold moon, when and where to look to find the moon, plus other celestial treats to look out for, please read on…
WHAT IS A FULL MOON?
A full Moon occurs when its position in its orbit around Earth is at its furthest distance from the Sun (almost on the opposite side of the Earth compared to the Sun). When this happens, the side of the Moon that can be seen from Earth is completely illuminated, giving it the appearance of being full.
WHAT IS A LUNAR STANDSTILL/LUNISTICE?
A Lunar Standstill/Lunistice is a point of time in a 18.6 year orbital cycle of the Moon when the Moon rises and sets at more northernly or southernly points along the horizon than usual. This is effect is caused by the Earth’s, Moon’s and Ecliptic’s axial and orbital relationship.
The Solar system plane (the path that all the planets orbits follow) is flat (like a disc), this plane is known as the Ecliptic. The Earth’s axis (centre of rotation) is tilted at 23.4 degrees in relation to the ecliptic. This tilt causes the Sun to appear higher or lower in the sky, varies the amount of time it is visible and causes it to rise/set in more northernly/southernly locations throughout the year. The Moons orbit is tilted by 5.1 degrees in relation to the ecliptic, and due to this tilt in its orbit can appear to rise/set in more northernly/southernly locations throughout an 18.6 year cycle.
Due to this effect, during a Lunar Standstill period the Moon will appear much higher or lower in the sky than usual.
These Lunar Standstills do not necessarily occur on a particular date but rather over a period of 2 years around the extremes of the 18.6 year cycle. The Current Lunar Standstill period will peak in June 2025, but there are certain periods of time when this effect can be more easily seen. Tonight’s full Cold Moon may be a good time to view this effect.
THE COLD MOON
Often full Moon names derive their names from Native American traditions, which typically gave distinctions to the Moon based on the time of the year, the weathers relationship to crop harvests and the appearance of certain animals. The Native Americans would keep track of time by observing the seasons and Lunar months. These names were often passed down through the generations and these names were traditionally applied to refer to the entire lunar month.
December’s full Moon is most commonly known as the "Cold Moon", which relates to the cold weather conditions that are frequent of this time of year. When the frosty, wintery weather starts to settle in and the cold of winter truly begins to bite.
OTHER ALTERNATIVE DECEMBER MOON NAMES
Other names that allude to the cold and snow include Drift Clearing Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree), Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala), Hoar Frost Moon (Cree), Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee), and Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki).
This full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year, which are near the December winter solstice. This name is doubly fitting because December’s full Moon shines above the horizon for a longer period of time than most full Moons.
Other names include Moon When the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota) and Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe).
Ancient pagans also called the December full Moon the “Moon Before Yule,” in honour of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the Sun heralded by winter solstice.
WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE FULL MOON OCCUR?
This month the full Moon will reach max illumination (99.9% illuminated) during the day when it will be beneath the horizon at around 09:53 on the 15th of December. The Moon will rise on the afternoon of December the 15th at roughly 14:58 in the Northeast, it will reach its highest point in the sky (aka transit) about 63 degrees high at around 00:35 in the South and will set in the Northwest at roughly 10:09 on the morning of the 16th of December.
Remember that you don’t really need to know the exact time of peak illumination to enjoy viewing the full Moon, the Moon will appear full all throughout the night and on the nights surrounding the peak.
WHERE IN THE SKY CAN THE MOON BE FOUND?
On the night of the 15th of December, our natural satellite can be found be hitching a ride in the zodiacal constellation of Gemini the twins.
The moon can more specifically be located very close by to the star Mebsuta of Gemini, in-between the two bright planets Jupiter and Mars, and just above the distinct winter constellation of Orion the hunter.
LUNAR OBSERVATION
The great thing about observing the Moon is that we don’t have to go and find a particularly dark location to view it. As the Moon is such a bright object in the sky, we can watch it from wherever we are, even from the centre of a heavily light polluted city. Weather permitting of course.
MOON RISE/SET – MOON ILLUSION
It's always lovely to watch the moon rise/set, so if you can head out to witness the moon rise, please do. Every time the moon rises it takes on a beautiful golden, amber colour and appears larger at this time too, due to an optical illusion known as the ‘Moon illusion’. It's truly special to witness. As it rises and glides overhead it’s colour will transition into a bright white.
Sometimes the Moon can appear even more orangey red than usual too! The hue of the moon typically depends on atmospheric conditions wherever you’re viewing it from. Things like clouds, dust, haze, smoke or pollution can cause the moon to appear different colours by scattering much of the blue light shining on to our natural satellite, leaving it with a more reddish tone.
OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS
There are many other celestial treats in our night skies at this moment in time, here is a small selection of amazing night sky sights to look out for:
- There are several meteor showers active at the moment including the king of the meteor showers – the Geminid meteor shower. This means that you may have a chance of seeing some meteors (aka shooting stars) blaze across the night sky.
- The beautiful open star cluster the Pleaides (aka the Seven Sisters) can be found in the zodiacal constellation of Taurus the bull very close by to the bright planet Jupiter.
- The winter Milky Way in all its glory can be seen stretching all the way across the sky. The moonlight will make the Milky Way difficult to see whilst producing so much light, however it's certainly something to look out for at this time of year, especially when the moon is not brightening our skies.
- The amazing Andromeda Galaxy can be spotted to the eye as a small faint elliptical fuzzy in the constellation of Andromeda.
- We are now back into in the Aurora season! The Aurora may now be seen dancing on our Northern horizons on nights of strong auroral activity. Typically, the bright Moon tends to wash the aurora out, however occasionally there are displays that are so strong they are visible despite the moonlight.
There are a few bright planets visible at the moment too…
- The brilliantly bright planet Venus can currently be seen shining brightly shortly before and for a short while after sunset towards the West. Venus will become visible just before the Sun sets at around 15:30 and will shine brightly descending towards the South-West where it will set at around 19:17.
- The amazing ringed planet Saturn can be found in the constellation of Aquarius the water bearer. Saturn will rise in the daytime at around 12:08 in the East, reaching transit towards the South about 27 degrees high at around 17:24 and will set in the west at around 22:40.
- The gas giant Jupiter will be visible in the constellation of Taurus the bull rising at around 14:57 in the North East. Jupiter will be easily visible shining very brightly at magnitude -2.8. Jupiter will climb in the sky travelling towards the South where it will reach transit about 57 degrees high at around 23:17. Jupiter will then begin to descend Nort-Westwards where it will set in the morning twilight at around 07:37.
- The red planet Mars will also be visible in the constellation of Cancer, rising at roughly 18:36 in the North East. Mars will climb in the sky travelling towards the South where it will reach transit around 567degrees high at about 02:56. Mars will then begin to descend travelling to the West and will fade from view during the morning twilight.
CLOSING WORDS FROM ASTRO DOG
This month’s full Cold Moon will be a beautiful sight, so if you can, we recommend heading out to witness this Decembers full Moon!
Clear skies 💖
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