This graphic represents the view due east at 7pm GMT on Christmas Day 2015 as seen from the centre of the British Isles, about an hour after full darkness has descended. The rising full Moon lies in the constellation Gemini, just above magnitude +1.9 star γ Geminorum, otherwise known as Alhena. This is the first time since 1977 that a full Moon has fallen on 25 December and the next time it occurs is 2034, so hopefully it will be clear! AN graphic by Ade Ashford.December’s full Moon, the last of the year, is called the Full Cold Moon because it occurs during the beginning of winter. The instant that this month’s full lunar phase will occur is 11:11am GMT and it will rise at 4:32pm GMT as seen from the centre of the British Isles.
As you gaze up at the Christmas Moon, take note that NASA has a spacecraft currently orbiting Earth’s only natural satellite. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission has been investigating the Moon’s surface since 2009.How the Moon will appear on 25 December 2015. Image credits: NASA/Goddard/Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.“As we look at the Moon on such an occasion, it’s worth remembering that the Moon is more than just a celestial neighbour,” said John Keller, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The geologic history of the Moon and Earth are intimately tied together such that the Earth would be a dramatically different planet without the Moon.”
LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon.
If you feel that tonight’s rising Full Moon is that bit smaller than usual then you’d be right, for this is a so-called Micromoon — one that occurs close to the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is furthest from the Earth.
Look low to the south-southeast at 11:35pm BST tonight and, if the current British “monsoon” clears, you will see the full Moon rising at dusk at the instant the 2016 summer solstice occurs in the Northern Hemisphere. The last time that this happened on the same UK day was 22 June 1967.
Did the “Man in the Moon” look different from ancient Earth? New NASA-funded research provides evidence that the spin axis of the Moon shifted by about five degrees roughly three billion years ago. The evidence of this motion is recorded in the distribution of ancient lunar ice, evidence of delivery of water to the early solar system.
