December’s Cold Moon Shines as the Year’s Final Supermoon
This week, the sky is putting on one last major show for the year, and it’s all centered around December’s full Cold Moon — which also happens to be the final supermoon of 2025. The moment of peak illumination will be reached on Thursday evening, right around 6:14 p.m. ET, but the moon will appear impressively full on Wednesday and Friday nights too. So even if the weather doesn’t cooperate one night, there’s still a good chance to catch it.
A supermoon occurs when the moon swings in closest to Earth in its orbit, a point known as perigee. Because of that proximity, the moon ends up looking a little larger and brighter than usual. And this one is extra special, because it marks the third in a row — something that doesn’t happen every year. If you count the first full moon of 2026, we’re actually looking at four consecutive supermoons in this stretch.
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What makes this full moon the “Cold Moon” is its timing. It’s the one that lands closest to the winter solstice, which falls on December 21 and marks the official beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Historically, different cultures gave their own names to each month’s full moon. Indigenous tribes, for example, referred to December’s moon in a variety of ways — the Cherokee called it the Snow Moon, while the Abenaki called it the Winter Maker Moon. These names often reflected seasonal changes, natural patterns, and the rhythms of hunting or farming.
Wherever you are, the moon will rise right around sunset. In the UK, for example, it’s expected to rise early in the afternoon on December 4 — around 14:52 in London, slightly earlier in Edinburgh, and just after 3 p.m. in Cardiff. It’ll stay visible through the night until around 8 or 9 the next morning, giving skywatchers plenty of darkness to enjoy it. As it climbs upward, it will create a beautiful arrangement in the sky, forming a sort of triangle with the Pleiades star cluster and the bright star Aldebaran, while Jupiter and the familiar winter constellation Orion will also be close by.
Weather may be a bit mixed depending on where you’re watching from. Some regions could see clouds or even a little rain early in the evening, but many places will clear up overnight. Cold air, mist, and pockets of fog may settle in too — which feels fitting for something called the Cold Moon.
This full moon also arrives in a season filled with space history. December has always been a meaningful month for lunar exploration, marking the anniversaries of both Apollo 8 in 1968 and Apollo 17 in 1972 — the last crewed mission to the lunar surface. And now, as NASA prepares for the Artemis II mission planned for 2026, many people are reflecting on how far lunar exploration has come and how close we are to sending astronauts around the moon again.
If you step outside this week and take a moment to enjoy the Cold Moon, you’ll be witnessing the finale of the year’s celestial highlights — a bright reminder of winter’s arrival, the moon’s timeless pull, and the next chapter of lunar exploration just ahead.
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