The last full moon in 2024 will be rare

On December 15, 2024By Littum

Clouds produced an incredible moon halo that was seen widely in the DC area Friday night. Depending on cloud cover, there could be a similar Saturday night.

halo of the moon — This moon halo seen in the night sky across the DC area on Friday. A similar thing can happen on Saturday night. (Courtesy Greg Redfern)

Clouds were prevalent for Friday night’s peak of the Geminid Meteor Shower, and the forecast calls for clouds to stick around for the next few days.

These clouds produced an incredible halo of the moon that was commonly seen in the DC area – and we may get a repeat Saturday night, depending on cloud cover.

Saturday full cold moon will rise along the northeastern horizon around 4:00 PM Eastern. It will be fully disclosed on Sunday morning at 4:02 AM Eastern. Oh, and the really bright “star” to the right of the moon will be the planet Jupiter.

What a sight it would be if the skies were clear and there was snow on the ground to catch all the exquisite moonlight – a true winter wonderland would be ours to enjoy!

This last full moon in 2024 is special because a rare cycle takes place, as described by the Griffith Observatory:

“Every 18.6 years, our Moon reaches the extremes of its orbit around Earth. We observe this as the Moon rises and settles at its northernmost and southernmost positions on the horizon. On the evening of December 15, we will observe the Moon rise as far to the north as it ever does.This happens during Greater moon mode.”

The famous observatory will broadcast the rise of the full cold moon on Sunday between 20:03 and 20:38 Eastern on YouTube.

If you have a landmark near where the moon rises on Sunday, take a photo or remember the location. You’ll see next month’s full moon rise to the left – to the south – on the horizon, as will each successive full moon until the summer solstice in June.

As you look at the sky for the rest of this month, you can check out all five visible planets. As it gets dark after sunset, radiant Venus is in the southwest, Saturn is high in the south, and luminous Jupiter is in the east, while Mars rises in the east at 8:00 PM Eastern.

Mercury will be in the southeast low on the horizon when it starts to get bright – binoculars will be helpful in finding it.

Follow Greg Redfern on Facebook, BlueSky and his daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.

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