We have this Christmas a full moon, which is the first time in 38 years since 1977.. This unique event won’t happen again until 2043. Britons could see the International Space Station shining brightly in the night sky on Christmas Eve. Parents with young children may have misinterpreted it as Santa riding his sleigh. Because it falls during winter, today’s full moon is the final of the year. The Full Cold Moon signifies that winter is here and the temperatures are dropping. The Full Cold Moon can sometimes be called the Long Night Moon. This is because, compared with other seasons, the nights are shorter and the Moon rises higher than the horizon in opposition to a lower Sun. NASA says this is the way the Christmas Day moon will look. Image: www.nasa.gov. It was often called the Moon Before Yule by Christian settlers. This year was the warmest on record. The term ‘Cold” is relative. Many people might be inclined to think of Christmas as spring or fall in many parts of Europe and the UK. The UK Met Office predicts that December 2015 will be the warmest month in recent history. In its newsblog, the Met Office stated the following: “Mowing lawns has been a reality for many this December with unseasonably warm temperatures. The UK appears to be on the verge of breaking the record for the warmest December since records started in 1910, and certain areas have seen their wettest. NASA requests that you notice that the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is still orbiting the Moon as it was since 2009.. John Keller from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland said that “As we gaze at the moon in such an instance, it’s important to remember that the moon’s geologic history is much more than just being a celestial neighbour.” Geologic history of the Earth and the moon are closely linked so that the Earth could be drastically different without the moon. A stunning photograph of the full moon behind the Christ the Redeemer statue on the Corcovado mountain, Rio de Janeiro. Today, a huge asteroid passes close to Earth. A large asteroid 163899 (2003SD 220) passed very near Earth’s equator on Christmas Eve. In astronomical terms that means “closely”, which was in this instance 6.8 million miles. Although it may seem far away to us, this is not too distant for astrophysicists or astronomers. 2003 is moving at 7.3 metres per minute or 16329.6 mile per hour. distances from the Moon are . Twenty-eight times as far from Earth as the Moon. There have been many calamitous online predictions about this flyby throughout the year. They were wrong as they always are. According to the Met Office, the UK’s Christmas Day weather forecast is: The northern and eastern regions of the UK will shine brightest, with some rain showers and a cold start in the north. As a result of a low pressure system that arrives in the Atlantic, the weather will be more cloudy further south. Rain is expected to soon arrive in the southeast. The rain will spread northeastwards throughout the day.”
First Christmas full moon since 1977
