Moonrise over Yellowstone National Park, USA

© Tom Murphy/Getty Image

'Cold Moon' rising. Night of the ‘Cold Moon’

Before the solar calendar was adopted, many cultures looked to the Moon to help track the months and seasons – and they adopted special names for full moons throughout the year. That’s why, in the Northern Hemisphere, a full moon that appears in December is known as the Cold Moon, a nod to the chilly temperatures of winter. (It’s also referred to as the Long Night Moon, because it occurs near the winter solstice, and Oak Moon.) This specific Cold Moon was photographed over The Thunderer, a mountain peak in Yellowstone National Park in the US state of Wyoming.