That bright white orb in the sky already looks like it is full, but it reaches complete illumination Dec. 7 at 11:09 p.m.
Called the “Cold Moon,” an appropriate Mohawk tribe name considering the temps in the northern latitudes, its high trajectory will make it appear in the sky longer and fuller Dec. 6-9.
Because of its long appearance at night the Mohican tribe calls it the “Long Night Moon.” The December full moon appears a couple of weeks shy of the Winter Solstice, Dec. 21 in 2022, so comes when days are shorter.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, other the Native American tribes have other seasonal names. The Cree tribe has used “Drift Clearing Moon,” “Frost Exploding Trees Moon and Hoar Frost Moon. The Haida and Cherokee tribes have called it “Snow Moon.”
In old Anglo-Saxon times, the December full moon was called the Moon before Yule.
For more insight into full-moon names plus seasonal and celebration names visit Time and Date.
Along with its long night, another phenomenon of the 2022 December full moon is that Mars will be blocked by the moon on Dec. 7. Called an “Occultation, the planet, moon, Earth and Sun will be in perfect alignment. Space and Scientific American explain what it is and who can see it when.
BTW, Mars will appear very bright earlier before it starts to disappear when its eclipse begins (different times according to where you live) so start looking for it in early evening.
