Crisp Morning in December, photo by CaptPiper.

The moon is officially full at 9:36 AM tomorrow morning, so tonight is the fullest moon you will get for a December night. Full Moon Names in the Farmer’s Almanac says that December’s full moon was known as the Cold Moon or the Long Nights Moon by the Algonquin.

The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon – December During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule.

The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

A few other names from Wikipedia’s full moon entry and elsewhere are the Bitter Moon (Chinese), Christmas Moon (Colonial America), Snow Moon (Cherokee), and Oak Moon (England).

Check this out background bigtacular and in Julie’s Michigan Barns slideshow.

More winter wallpaper from Michigan in Pictures.