For the first time since 1977, the moon is going to be full on Christmas. Of course that is also the same year the original Star Wars movie was released. How fun! If you are under 38 years old, this is the first full moon on Christmas in your lifetime. The next one won’t occur until 2034, I shudder to think how old I will be by then.
While the release of Star Wars was big, there was another important full Christmas moon in American history on Dec. 25, 1776. Historians tell us this was the night George Washington and his Continental Army crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey. If there were clear skies, the army used the moonlight to help with the crossing.
You likely have heard that the Native Americans gave each of the full moons a name. This month it’s called the cold moon, but within some tribes, this moon was called the Full Long Nights Moon.
December is the month with the longest nights and when cold typically establishes its winter grip. The Long Night Moon this month takes a very high trajectory across the sky because of the position it has in relation to the sun.
The show begins Christmas Eve at 4:02 p.m. EST when the moon rises in the eastern sky. I’ll talk about the weather conditions for this in a moment. The moon will be 99.7 percent full at that time, becoming 100 percent full at 6:11 a.m. EST. Christmas morning before setting at 6:55 a.m. EST in the west.
On Christmas evening, the moon rises full at 4:59 p.m. EST. This mean it will be visible all night on Christmas before setting Saturday morning, December 26, at 7:47 a.m. EST.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/weather_wisdom/2015/12/first_full_moon_on_christmas_s.html?p1=feature_stack_8_hp
No comments:
Post a Comment