The last supermoon in 2025 is more than just an astronomical phenomenon: it will be the highest full moonrise of the decade – and we won’t see it again until 2042!

What we haven’t already seen in terms of astronomical highlights this year. From the first October harvest moon in five years to the closest full moon of the year to the Earth to the lowest strawberry moon in almost two decades, the sky was hot in 2025 and it’s not quite over yet. One spectacle is still to come, and it is imminent. On December 4 and 5, the last supermoon of the year will appear overhead and it’s not just any ordinary full moon. It’s probably the highest full moonrise of the decade, which we won ‘t be able to experience again until 2042.

The full moon reaches its peak at 00:14 on December 5. This means that the moon is exactly opposite the sun – a moment known as “opposition”. The full moon in December is also closest in time to the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere (December 21) and therefore reaches its highest position in the sky throughout the year. In contrast, the full moon near the summer solstice marks the lowest position of the year. And it has another special feature: it is the highest full moon in the northern hemisphere until the year 2042. It also rises and sets at the most extreme points on the horizon – in the north-east and north-west.

The last supermoon in 2025 is also known as the “Rauhn moon”. The name is derived from the Rauhnächte, an old Central European tradition around the time between Christmas and Epiphany. These nights were regarded as a mystical threshold time when the boundaries to the spirit world were supposed to be more permeable. They usually begin with the winter solstice and end on January 6.