December Full Cold Moon By Another Name — ‘Child Moon’: When To See It

Most people know December’s full moon, which reaches peak illumination Sunday morning, as the cold moon, because it occurs as nights turn cold and long.

A writer for NASA calls it “the child moon,” a moniker hung on our natural satellite expressing wonder in the heavens above her.

As retired NASA executive Gordon Johnston tells it in the agency’s monthly skywatching guide, 7-year-old Astrid Hattenbach was walking home from school with her father, NASA planetary researcher Henry Throop, five years ago and said:

“You know what this Moon is called? It’s called a Child Moon. Because the Moon rises at a time that the children, they can see it, because they’re not in bed, and they might even be outside like we are right now.”

Johnston thought the name was perfect — and not just because a child dreamed it up.

This year, at least for Washington, D.C., and similar latitudes, the earliest evenings with a full or nearly full moon in the sky will be Friday through Sunday, with sunset around 4:44 p.m. Eastern Time and evening twilight ending around 5:50 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Johnston wrote.

Other names for the December full moon include the frost moon, the winter moon and the moon before Yule. This year, it rises just days before the solstice on Saturday, Dec. 21, the astronomical start of winter. Meteorological winter began on Dec. 1.

The full moon occurs a day after the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, which NASA says is hands-down the best shooting star show of the year. Under ideal conditions, up to 120 of the bright, fast, yellowish-colored are visible.

• Related: 2024’s Top Meteor Shower Peaks This Week: How To See The Geminids

The year closes out with the Ursid meteor shower, which runs Dec. 17-26 and peaks Dec. 22-23. The moon will still be bright at about 54 percent illumination, and that may interfere with viewing after midnight until dawn. At their peak, the Ursids produce about five or 10 shooting stars an hour. The shower is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 8P/Tuttle, discovered in 1790.

Shooting star seekers, take note: 2025 starts with another stunner, the prolific Quadrantids, which under perfect conditions can produce as many as 200 meteors an hour at their Jan. 4 peak. The shower runs Dec. 26-Jan. 16. Most meteor showers have a two-day peak, but the peak of the Quadrantids is only a few hours, according to NASA, which calls it “one of the best annual meteor showers.”

The Quadrantids are rich in bright fireballs, larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak.

• Related: More Highlights From The December Celestial Calendar