(WFRV) – The last full moon of 2021 appears Saturday, December 18. It goes by the “Full Cold Moon.” The name is pretty self-explanatory by referring to the time of year air cold air finally starts to grip locations in the northern hemisphere.

Peak illumination occurs at 10:37 pm C.T. Moonrise will occur at 5:11 p.m. with the moon setting at 7:29 a.m. the following morning on Sunday. It will be 95 percent full from December 16 to December 21.

Other names it goes by can be the “Long Night Moon”, “Drift Clearing Moon”, “Frost Exploding Trees Moon”, and “Hoar Frost Moon.”

“Long Night Moon” refers to our daylight hours of the year which are the shortest in the northern hemisphere in December close to the winter solstice.

This full moon can also be considered a “Micromoon” which is basically the opposite of a “supermoon.” That is because the moon is at its farthest point to earth.