December sky events: The year’s final supermoon and two meteor showers
Dec 01, 2025 12:05PM ● By Content Editor
By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - December 1, 2025
As we near the end of 2025, December offers three night sky events for watchers in the Northern Hemisphere, featuring the final supermoon of the year and two meteor showers.
The last full moon of 2025, traditionally named the Cold Moon, Winter Moon (Bibooni-giizis), or Little Spirit Moon (Manidoo-Giizisoons), will peak on Thursday, December 4, around 5:15 p.m. This moon is also classified as a supermoon, which, according to NASA, is "a nickname for what astronomers call a perigean full moon – a moon that is full and at the closest point in its orbit around Earth." Due to this proximity, a supermoon can appear up to 14% larger in diameter and 30% brighter compared to a full moon at its farthest point, known as a micromoon.
Additionally, because this full moon is near the winter solstice, it will reach its highest altitude in the Northern Hemisphere for the entire year, providing a long, bright night. This final full moon of 2025 will peak on Thursday, December 4, around 5:15 p.m.
Night sky lovers can also potentially get a glimpse of the Geminids meteor shower, active from November 19 to December 24, with peak viewing around December 13 and 14, 2025. The Geminids are consistently "considered to be one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers," according to NASA. Under ideal viewing conditions, a dark sky with little to no moon, viewers "can expect to see up to 120 meteors per hour shoot across the night sky." Unlike nearly all other major meteor showers, which originate from comets, the Geminids are unique because they come from an asteroid, 3200 Phaethon, which consists of "tougher rocks" that can penetrate the atmosphere more easily, resulting in brighter light.
Want to get a closer view of the Geminids? Staff and students from the University of Minnesota Duluth Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium will be at North House Folk School with telescopes on Saturday, December 13, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., as part of Visit Cook County's annual Dark Sky Festival.
Following the Geminids, the minor Ursids shower will peak around December 21 and 22, originating from debris associated with comet 8P/Tuttle.
