December 2025 Full Moon: How to Watch the Last Supermoon of the Year, Plus Date, Time and Top Locations
December 2025 Full Moon: How to Watch the Last Supermoon of the Year, Plus Date, Time and Top Locations
A striking celestial display awaits skywatchers as 2025 draws to a close. The final full moon of the year will take center stage in early December, arriving not only as the traditional cold moon but also as a supermoon. With its enhanced brightness and unusually high placement in the winter sky, this lunar event promises to be one of the most memorable moon sightings of the season for observers across the Northern Hemisphere.
The moon will officially reach its full phase at 8:20 a.m. EST on Thursday December 4. Although the exact moment of fullness occurs during daylight for much of North America and therefore cannot be seen directly, the moon will still appear full for several nights. The most impressive viewing opportunity comes the following evening on Friday December 5 when the nearly full moon rises shortly after sunset and creates a vivid glow above the eastern horizon.
Its supermoon status comes from the moon’s close proximity to Earth during this period. A typical lunar distance is about 238,900 miles or 384,472 kilometers. On December 4 however the moon will be much closer at roughly 221,965 miles or 357,218 kilometers. This makes it the second closest full moon of 2025 and noticeably enhances both its size and brilliance. What makes this particular supermoon even more striking is that the moment of full illumination follows only about twelve hours after the moon reaches perigee which is its nearest point to Earth.
Another feature that sets this event apart is its height in the sky. Because full moons rise opposite the sun their path is heavily shaped by the sun’s seasonal position. With the winter solstice approaching on December 21 the sun sits at its lowest arc of the year which causes the December full moon to appear at its highest. As a result the cold moon of 2025 will travel across the night sky in a taller and more elevated arc than any other full moon of the year.
Friday evening offers the most picturesque view as the moon rises roughly twenty five minutes after sunset. This timing allows the moon to take on its familiar oversized appearance when it emerges near the horizon even though its actual size does not change. This effect known as the moon illusion is a psychological perception that scientists including NASA researchers continue to study. Trees buildings and distant landscape features contribute to the impression that the moon looks larger when it sits low in the sky.
The ideal vantage points are wide open areas with an unobstructed eastern view. Fields hilltops and coastlines work especially well for experiencing the dramatic moonrise. For example in New York sunset occurs at about 4:29 p.m. EST with the moon rising at approximately 4:56 p.m. EST. In Los Angeles sunset arrives around 4:43 p.m. PST and moonrise follows at about 5:27 p.m. PST. A moonrise calculator can help viewers find precise timing for their own location.
This cold supermoon closes out a notable lunar calendar. The year 2025 included twelve full moons three of which were supermoons along with two total lunar eclipses that produced blood moon appearances in March and September. Although a solar year lasts roughly 365.24 days a lunar year spans about 354.37 days which occasionally leads to thirteen full moons in a single year. This happened most recently in 2023 and will occur again in 2028.
Once the cold moon sets the lunar cycle moves toward the wolf moon which will rise on Saturday January 3 2026. That full moon will be the first of the winter season and will also serve as the fourth consecutive supermoon continuing the celestial momentum from late 2025.
