By Janissa Delzo
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The first and only supermoon of 2017 has arrived—and here's how you can watch it via livestream from across the globe on Sunday night. While you've most likely heard the term supermoon before, "cold moon" may not be as familiar; what is it?
Sunday's brighter and larger than normal moon gets its name "Full Cold Moon," for a reason that's much more obvious than you may realize, but it's very fitting.
"The Cold Moon gets its name because December is the month when it really starts to get cold, although our coldest average temperatures are in January," according to NASA.
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"Cold Moon" is a much less applicable name for the Southern Hemisphere, where it's currently summer. The Māori—Indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand—used names to match both the moon and the lunar month. In November and December they use the word Hakihea, which means "birds are now sitting in their nests," according to The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
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December's full moon is also sometimes called a Full Long Nights Moon, Space.com reports. Both of the aforementioned names are ancient and relate to the cold weather and long, dark nights of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, according to timeanddate.com. Another name that's popular among Europeans is "Moon before Yule," which was derived from the Anglo-Saxons.
"Yule is an old northern European winter festival that is now associated with Christmas," NASA reports.
December's full moon was also once referred to as Wolf Moon, but now that name is much more common for January's full moon. The name comes from the animals that gathered on Native American properties.
"Amid the cold temperatures and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Native American villages. The Full Wolf Moon is also known as the Old Moon and the Moon after Yule," Space.com reports.
Many of the names used to indicate specific full moons refer to important aspects of Native American culture. For example, November's full moon was called "Full Beaver Moon," referring to an important animal among tribes in the winter months.
"This was the time of year when the old Native American tribes set beaver traps, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs before the swamps froze," according to Space.com. "Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter."
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