The final full moon of the year rises on Wednesday, Dec. 7.
December’s full moon — also nicknamed the Cold Moon — officially begins at 11:09 p.m. ET (4:09 a.m. UTC on Dec. 8), although the moon will also appear bright and full in the sky beginning on Tuesday, Dec. 6, and lasting until Thursday, Dec. 8.
As for the moon’s nickname, sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere will have little trouble guessing why this month’s moon is dubbed the “cold” one. Rising mere weeks before the winter solstice (Dec. 21), this moon takes to the sky during one of the coldest, darkest parts of the year.
According to the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, which began publishing Native American names for moons beginning in the 1930s, this moon’s moniker originates with the Mohawk tribe of what is now the northeastern United States and Southeastern Canada. The name has since become popular in mainstream coverage of the moon’s phases.
www.livescience.com/cold-moon-december-full-moon-2022