The Cold Moon Is The Last Full Moon Of 2020

The final full moon for December 2020 is on Tuesday 29 December and is the Cold Moon. It gets its name from the fact that in December the temperatures drop and it begins to get really cold.

The longest night of the year was only a few days away on the 21 December – the Winter Solstice.

Some Native American Tribes have also called the December Full Moon the ‘Long Nights Moon’ because it appears so near to the solstice.

Why a full moon?

A full moon occurs when the moon's earth-facing side is completely illuminated by the sun. Scientists say that when you see the moon looking really large as it rises in the sky your brain is actually playing a trick on you.

There are many reasons as to why this is, but the main theory is that when the moon is low on the horizon it can be compared to earthly things, like buildings and trees, and this is why it seems huge.

Every month of the year there is a full moon which illuminates the sky, each of which is given a different name.

Dates of full moons in 2020

January 10 - Wolf Moon
February 9 - Snow Moon
March 9 - Worm Moon
April 7 - Pink Moon
May 7 - Flower Moon
June 5 - Strawberry Moon
July 5 - Buck Moon
August 3 - Sturgeon Moon
September 2 - Corn Moon
October 1 - Harvest Moon
October 31 - Blue Moon
November 30 - Beaver Moon
December 29 - Cold Moon

There are a total of 12 full moon phases during the annual lunar cycle plus the occasional Blue Moon and each full moon has a unique name, which is tied to the changing seasons, behaviour of the plants, animals, or weather during that month and reflects the landscape around us.

The names given to the full moons during the year are derived from the North American tribes who centuries ago kept track of the changing seasons by giving the full moons distinctive names depending on the time of year.

However the full moon names we now use also have Anglo-Saxon and Germanic roots.