Last Full Moon of 2020 Blows Into The Night Sky

Stargazers were treated to a final astronomical sight of the year on Tuesday night as the last full moon of the 2020 rose into the night sky and shone down on the planet leading to some spectacular photographs being taken from coast to coast across the United States. 

On the east coast of the U.S. the 'Cold Moon' reached peak illumination at 10:30pm ET and was in the sky for a full 15 hours until the early hours of Wednesday morning, making it the longest full moon of the year.

Photographers were able to capture the bright sight as the moon soared over the tops of mountains, was caught in between trees and grazed the top of sky scrapers.

The nickname comes from the Native American tribe the Mohwaks and refers to the dropping temperatures in December that means winter has arrived. 

NASA's Gordon Johnston wrote in a recent blog post: 'This year moonlight will interfere with viewing the annual Quadrantid meteor shower, expected to be active from 28 December, 2020, through 12 January 2021, peaking on the morning of 3 January 2021.'

The last full moon of the year has a variety of names, depending on where people were viewing the sight.

It is sometimes referred to as the Full Long Night's Moon, which refers to 'the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the moon is above the horizon for a long time,' according to the Farmer's Almanac.

'The midwinter full moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low sun.'

This full moon was a celebration of winter solstice that marks the start of winter.

In the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are reversed, the full December moon is often called the Strawberry Moon, Honey Moon or Rose Moon.

Johnston notes that it could also be called the Chang'e Moon, following China's three successful lunar landers that launched around this time of year.  

'These missions get their name from the Chinese goddess of the Moon, Chang'e, who lived on the Moon with her pet rabbit, Yutu,' Johnston writes.

'The Chang'e 3 lander and its companion Yutu rover launched on December 1 and landed on the Moon on December 14 2013.'

'The Chang'e 4 lander and its companion Yutu-2 rover launched December 7, 2018 and landed January 3, 2019.'

'The Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission launched on November 23 (in UTC, November 24 in China's time zone) and returned its samples to the Earth on December 16, 2020, humanity's first lunar sample return since 1976.' 

The moon will appear full until Thursday morning and the next time a full moon appears January 28, which is called the 'Full Wolf Moon.'

This article has been adapted from its original source.      

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