A Christmas cold moon or 'the long night moon': Get ready for the year's last full moon

Santa will have an easier time getting around this Christmas with a full moon lighting his way through the sky!

This year's final full moon will be a Christmas cold moon. It will rise near sunset from Monday through Wednesday and reach peak illumination at 7:33 pm EDT Tuesday.

The cold moon is the moon that happens closest to the winter solstice – the longest night of the year for the Northern Hemisphere – and it takes the highest path along the top of the sky so it's visible longer than other full moons.

Mohawk's dubbed the name cold moon for the frigid conditions that occur during it. It was also called the long night moon by the Mohicans, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

The next full moon will be the wolf moon on Jan. 25.