--- description: A full moon will light up the night sky on Christmas for the first time since 1977, a NASA spokesperson said. title: Full Moon to Rise on Christmas For First Time Since 1977 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55ffabbac12e5e08/69887524196cf434c5039714/gettyimages-459250859.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Full Moon to Rise on Christmas for First Time Since 1977  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 12, 2015 8:06 PM CUT  A full moon will light up the night sky on Christmas for the first time since 1977. A full moon will light up the night sky on Christmas for the first time since 1977.RJ Sangosti—The Denver Post/Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 12, 2015 8:06 PM CUT Rudolph can [retire his red nose for the night.](http://abcnews.go.com/US/full-moon-light-christmas-time-1977/story?id=35724307 "undefined") A full moon will light up the night sky on Christmas for the first time since 1977, a NASA spokesperson told ABC News. The celestial phenomenon won’t happen again on Christmas until 2034, NASA said. The full moon will reach its peak at 6:11 a.m. E.T., according to ABC. The last full moon of the year in December is called the Full Cold Moon, although it is also known as the Moon before Yule, according to the [Farmers’ Almanac](http://farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names/ "undefined"). It has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low sun, the Farmers’ Almanac said. \[[_ABC_](http://abcnews.go.com/US/full-moon-light-christmas-time-1977/story?id=35724307 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4146840/full-moon-christmas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4146840/full-moon-christmas/"},"headline":"Full Moon to Rise on Christmas for First Time Since 1977","datePublished":"2015-12-12T20:06:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:58:11.501Z","description":"It won't happen again until 2034","url":"https://time.com/4146840/full-moon-christmas/","keywords":["Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55ffabbac12e5e08/69887524196cf434c5039714/gettyimages-459250859.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55ffabbac12e5e08/69887524196cf434c5039714/gettyimages-459250859.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Moon over a Christmas tree","caption":"A full moon will light up the night sky on Christmas for the first time since 1977.","creditText":"RJ Sangosti—The Denver Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4146840/full-moon-christmas/","name":"Full Moon to Rise on Christmas for First Time Since 1977"}}]}] ```