December comes from the Latin word decem, meaning “ten” because this was the tenth month of the early Roman calendar. December’s full Moon, the Full Cold Moon, rises in the evening of Wed, December 11th.
Look skyward on the night of December 13 after 9 P.M. for a glimpse of the Geminid meteors. The meteor shower is the most active shower of the year. Unfortunately, they may be hard to spot this year thanks to the presence of the still-bright full Moon, which peaks just one night prior and may wash out the sky
December 21 is the Winter Solstice—the astronomical first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.