Santa will have a rare “Full Cold Moon” lighting his way this Christmas

Santa Claus certainly won’t need Rudolph’s help this Christmas as the night sky will be lit up by a full moon for the first time since 1977.

This celestial phenomenon will not happen again on Christmas Day until 2034, according to NASA. The moon will reach its peak at 6:11 am ET. The last full moon of the year, in December, is known as the Full Cold Moon, or the Moon before Yule, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, which says the trajectory of the full moon is the opposite to that of the low daytime sun.

Unfortunately Met Eireann, Ireland’s meteorological experts, predicts a week of changeable weather including heaving wind and rain. They also predict a dramatic temperature drop from the balmy 53.6F to 33F at Christmas. Fingers crossed the skies stay clear for Ireland to witness this rare event.

“This rare event won’t happen again until 2034. That is a long time to wait, so make sure to look up to the skies on Christmas Day,” NASA said in statement

This has been an interesting period for celestial events, including a total solar eclipse in March and a dramatic Blood Moon on September 28. At the time fringe Christian groups feared that these events predicted the Apocalypse. Thankfully their beliefs were unfounded.