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Or the Full Long Nights Moon - 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.
The Moon reaches its greatest northern
declination on Dec. 12th (+27 degrees), and its
greatest southern declination on Dec. 26th (-27
degrees).
On the 12th the Moon reaches its closest perigee
distance in 15 years (356,566 km) resulting in
extra large tides, since it will also be Full Moon.
The Moon's farthest apogee distance (406,601 km) of
the year occurs on the 26th
Perigee
(closest to Earth - 356,566 km) on Dec. 12th, at
05:00 pm EST
Apogee
(farthest from Earth - 406,601 km) on Dec. 26th, at
03:00 pm EST
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