The full moon in December has many nicknames. Northern Europeans call it the Moon Before Yule, in reference to the winter festival now associated with Christmas. According to the Farmer's Almanac, some Native Americans call the December full moon the Cold Moon or the Long Night Moon. (This full moon occurs close to the solstice, the longest night of the year).

This photograph of the nearly full Moon was taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft on 22 December 1968. The historic mission had been launched the day before to demonstrate the lunar orbit and prepare for the final lunar landing. After orbiting the Moon 10 times on Christmas Eve, the Apollo 8 crew returned home and successfully landed in the Pacific a few days later. This was the first time humans from Earth had visited the Moon and returned home safely.

Image description:

An almost full moon stands out in the darkness of space. The moon is expressed in textured patterns of grey and white. Near the centre is the circular, dark area Crisium, near the eastern edge of the Moon as seen from Earth. Mare Nectaris is the circular mare near the terminator. The large, irregular mairas are Tranquillitatis and Fecunditatis. The terminator on the left side of the picture cuts Mare Tranquillitatis and the highlands to the south. Features on the far side of the Moon occupy most of the right half of the picture. The large, dark-coloured Tsiolkovsky crater is close to space on the lower right side. Conspicuous bright rays emanate from two large craters, one north of Tsiolkovsky and the other close to space in the upper half of the image.