The final full Moon of 2025 is visible in the night sky at the start of December, and it's known as the 'Cold Moon'.
The 2025 Cold Moon will rise on 4th December at 14:48 UTC, making for a beautiful night-sky spectacle that signifies winter is truly here, and Christmas is on the way.
More winter stargazing
A bright full Moon is one of the most spectacular naked-eye sights in the night sky, and in this guide we'll tell you how to make the best of it.
Sign up to the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter for lunar times and phases delivered to your email inbox every week.
In the midst of December, before the advent of electric lighting, the bright full Cold Moon must have been a great comfort to people who happened to be out and about at night time.
This is because a bright full Moon really is an arresting sight, and truly does illuminate our surroundings once the Sun has set.
Many astronomers avoid a full Moon because its glare makes it difficult to see night-sky phenomena like meteor showers, and especially deep-sky objects like galaxies, nebulae and star clusters.
Nevertheless, a full Moon is a beautiful sight to behold and there's still a lot you can enjoy if you're stepping outside to observe the Cold Moon in December.
Why it's called a Cold Moon
Every full Moon of the year has a nickname, and there are a few head-scratchers among them, such as 'Strawberry Moon' or 'Worm Moon'.
These names don't actually mean that full Moon will look any different to any other full Moon, however.
The full Moon nicknames reflect changes in nature: so a Strawberry Moon is the June full Moon because that's when strawberries are harvested.
A Worm Moon in March heralds the beginning of springtime and the emergence of earthworms in warmer weather, providing food for animals waking up from hibernation.
The Cold Moon is a little more self-explanatory, in that its name signifies the beginning of winter and the onset of the darker, colder months.
Other equally self-explanatory names for the Cold Moon include the Frost Moon and the Winter Moon.
Observing the Cold Moon
The 2025 Cold Moon will rise in the northeast on 4th December at 14:48 UTC, and will be accompanied by some of the best targets to see in the winter night sky.
As the Cold Moon climbs higher and higher, it will make for a beautiful night-sky sight, forming a triangle with the Pleiades star cluster and bright star Aldebaran in Taurus.
You'll also be able to see Jupiter close to the Cold Moon, as well as the winter constellation of Orion, the Hunter.
Here are some of the best ways of making the most of the full Cold Moon.
How to observe the Cold Moon
- See if the rising full Moon looks bigger - this is known as the Moon illusion
- Does the rising Moon also look orange or even rusty red?
- While not as favourable as a crescent or gibbous Moon, observe the Moon with binoculars or telescope
- Photograph the Moon with a DSLR camera
- Photograph the Moon with a smartphone
- Get out your paper and pencils and sketch the Moon
- Full Moon is a good time to observe lunar ray ejecta systems
- See if you can spot a halo or arc around the Moon
- See if you can spot a Moonbow
If you do observe or photograph the Cold Moon, get in touch by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
