The Cold Moon, final supermoon of 2025, to illuminate Singapore's night sky on Dec 4

The Cold Moon will illuminate Singapore's night skies on Dec 4.

It is the third and last in a series of consecutive super full moons and comes after November's Beaver Moon, the second super full moon of this year. 

The first super full moon of the year, the Harvest Moon, appeared in October.

The Cold Moon will reach full illumination at 7.14am on Dec 5, according to astronomy website timeanddate.com.

A full illumination refers to the exact moment when the moon, earth and sun are aligned, with the moon appearing completely lit by the sun's rays. 

Although this happens in the morning, the moon will look full throughout the night of Dec 4.

The Cold Moon was named by the Mohawk people of North America, and it rises during the year's longest nights, near the Northern Hemisphere's year-end winter solstice.

It is expected to glow longer over the horizon than most full moons, says The Old Farmer's Almanac, a North American periodical on astronomy and meteorology.

The supermoon will be visible across Singapore — given skies are clear — and will be best viewed from open spaces such as Marina Barrage, East Coast Park and the Southern Ridges.

Meteor showers expected

The Leonids, Geminids and Ursids meteor showers will also peak in the coming weeks.

The Leonids — active from Nov 3 to Dec 2 — are expected to peak on the night of Nov 17, into the early hours of Nov 18, said The Observatory at Science Centre Singapore on Tuesday (Nov 11).

Up to 10 to 15 meteors per hour may be visible under dark skies.

The moon on the night of Nov 17 will be slightly under nine per cent illuminated, according to timeanddate.com.

This means that the moon's brightness will not interfere much with the Leonids' visibility that night.

The meteors — which appear as bright, colourful streaks and seemingly radiate from the constellation Leo — can be seen without special equipment.

Observers in Singapore are advised to head to open, darker areas between midnight and dawn for the best chance of spotting them.

The Geminids, one of this year's most spectacular showers, will peak on the night of Dec 14, according to timeanddate.com, and will potentially produce around 120 meteors an hour. 

The Ursids will close out the month, peaking on the night between Dec 22 and 23 with up to 10 meteors visible per hour.

Both showers can be viewed with the naked eye, if weather conditions and light pollution permit clear visibility.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com