MessageToEagle.com – For the first time since 1977, you will have a rare opportunity to watch a full cold Moon on Christmas Day. This unique event won’t happen again until 2034. That’s a long time to wait, so make sure to look up to the skies on Christmas Day. Not since 1977 has a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas. But this year, a bright full moon will be an added gift for the holidays.
December’s full moon, the last of the year, is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter. The moon’s peak this year will occur at 6:11 a.m. EST.
Credits: NASA/Goddard/Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
As you gaze up at the Christmas moon, take note that NASA has a spacecraft currently orbiting Earth’s moon. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission has been investigating the lunar surface since 2009.
“As we look at the moon on such an occasion, it’s worth remembering that the moon is more than just a celestial neighbor,” said John Keller, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The geologic history of the moon and Earth are intimately tied together such that the Earth would be a dramatically different planet without the moon.”
The online Slooh Community Observatory will host a free webcast of the Christmas full moon, and Comet Catalina, on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) at 7 p.m. EST (0000 GMT). You can go to Slooh.com to join and watch the broadcast, which will run until midnight EST, and also see Slooh’s library of past shows.
And remember, on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), Slooh is letting kids take control of its new StarShare camera, which will let the children snap a picture of the full moon — and maybe catch Santa Claus on his way to deliver presents to all the good children.
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