Cold Moon 2020: Check date, India timing, importance of year’s last lunar event

The last lunar event of the year or 'Cold Moon' night will occur on December 29 and December 30 this year. Since this will be last lunar event of 2020, the space enthusiasts and sky watchers are enthusiastic about it. The 'Cold Moon' night will light up the dark sky for two cold nights before the end of 2020.

The last full moon of the year is known as the Cold Moon. This lunar event falls in the month of December every year.

It is to be noted that several countries in the Northern Hemisphere are currently witnessing winter season and the countries in the Southern Hemisphere are experiencing the Summer season. 

The name of the lunar event is 'Cold Moon' as per the climate conditions of the Northern Hemisphere at the end of year. The event is also known as the Long Nights Moon in the US and countries situated on the coast of the Atlantic ocean.

The name ‘Long Nights Moon’ has its origin in the fact that the countries in the Northern hemisphere also experience the winter solstice as they experience the longest night of the year at this time. In Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice falls on December 22.

The Cold Moon event normally starts immediately after Christmas which is celebrated on December 25. The year 2020 is memorable for space enthusiasts and sky watchers as they recently witnessed the ‘Christmas Star’ and the spectacular conjunction of two planets Jupiter and Saturn before the Christmas. The Cold Moon event is the final and 13th full moon event of this year. Notably, the next full moon will be witnessed now in 2021 only.