‘Cold Moon’ lunar event at peak for Boxing Day | CityNews Calgary

The night time sky is predicted to be fairly a sight on Boxing Day.

A phenomenon referred to as the “Cold Moon” or “Long Night Moon,” which occurs each 19 years or so, is the primary full moon because the Dec. 21 winter solstice.

The moon is predicted to rise close to sundown on Dec. 26 and 27, with the height occurring on the twenty sixth. People had been handled to a “Christmas Moon,” a full moon on Christmas Day, 2023.

NASA says the complete moon takes a excessive trajectory throughout the sky as a result of it’s reverse to the low solar, so the moon can be above the horizon longer than at different occasions of the 12 months.

Here in Calgary, the net moon rise calculator says it’ll rise at round 3:44 p.m. MST and be most illuminated at 5:33 p.m., and it’ll set shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Its identify derives from the very fact December is predicated on the frigid situations of this time of 12 months, and the Old Farmers’ Almanac says the identify comes from Mohawk traditions.

NASA says it’s as a result of December is a extremely chilly month, “although our coldest average temperatures are in January.”

“The Long Night Moon gets its name because the full moon in December occurs near the solstice, which has the longest night of the year,” it stated.

In addition, the almanac says Europeans name the December full moon the Moon earlier than Yule. Yule is an outdated northern European winter competition that’s now related to Christmas.

It final occurred in 2015 and is predicted to return once more on Christmas in 2034.