Rare full moon, not just Santa, arriving on Christmas

This Christmas you can experience an event that hasn’t happened since 1977 and won’t occur again until 2034 – a full moon on Christmas Day. While the moon will look full when it rises at sunset on Christmas Eve, it won’t be full until 5:11 a.m. on Christmas morning.

If the weather cooperates, find an unobstructed view to the east-northeast on Christmas Eve close to sunset (just before 5:25 p.m.).

Watch the moon come up – you will feel like it’s gigantic. This is an illusion caused by having the moon near an object such as a tree or house that you can compare it to. When it is up over your head you have no point of reference to judge its size. Believe me, it’s the same size whether it’s near the horizon or up overhead.

The other cool thing about this full moon is that the moon will be far to the north. This is because the earth’s axis is tilted to its orbit around the sun. So in the winter in the northern hemisphere, the sun is low in its path across the sky and the full moon – being opposite the sun – is high in its path across the sky. Therefore the moon passes closer to overhead, enhancing the overall effect.

Plus if you’re looking for Santa and his reindeer, maybe you’ll spot him in front of a full Christmas moon.