Every 18.6 years, our Moon reaches the extremes of its orbit around the Earth. We observe this as the Moon rises and sets at its most northerly and southerly positions on the horizon. [The full moon on December 15, known as the Cold Moon, will rise and set at its most extreme northerly points on the horizon.]
The “major lunar standstill” results from the rotation of the Moon’s inclined orbit over an 18.6-year cycle. Because the greatest monthly excursion of the Moon changes very little during a standstill, we can observe the phenomenon for the rest of 2024 and much of 2025. The last time this happened was in January 2006.
