'Pink' supermoon to light up New Zealand's sky

A “pink” supermoon is set to light up New Zealand’s sky on Tuesday.

Nelson-based space scientist Dr Duncan Steel​ said the moon “will appear bigger and brighter” than usual when it rises.

This was because the moon will be close to perigee – the closest point to Earth in its orbit. Steel explained that the moon will be about 7 per cent closer than its average distance to Earth.

“That makes it appear, first, bigger in the sky, but also it makes it appear brighter because it's closer to us on the Earth.”

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Do you have any photo of the ‘pink’ moon? Send them to us at: newstips@stuff.co.nz

A full moon occurs about once a month when the sun and the moon are aligned on opposite sides of Earth, and its sunlit side is visible to people.

If a full moon occurs closer to the perigee – the closest point to Earth – it can appear bigger than if it occurs closer to the apogee – the farthest point.

According to Nasa, the term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, and refers to either a new or full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90 per cent of perigee.

Tuesday's lunar event is the first of two supermoons in 2021. Although it is colloquially dubbed as a “pink” supermoon, it would not actually be pink.

Steel explained that this is because full moons have, sometimes, been given names depending on the months they appear in.

April’s full moon was dubbed the “pink” moon because it occurred in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when cherry blossom was in bloom.

“It happens that the one in May is called the flower moon, the one in June is called the strawberry moon,” Steel said.

According to Steel, the supermoon would be at its fullest shortly after 3.30pm NZT on Tuesday. However, the best time to view or photograph it in Aotearoa would be as it rises over the horizon in the evening.

The sun was due to dip below the western horizon at about 5.40pm on Tuesday. In Auckland, the moon was expected to begin rising over the eastern horizon at about 5.52pm. In Dunedin, it was expected to rise a few minutes later at about 5.56pm.

“The best time, as such, to see it when it looks the biggest is going to be shortly after it rises above the eastern horizon.”

Depending on the weather, there should be plenty of opportunities for people to take pictures, he said.

According to MetService meteorologist Andy Best​, the clearest skies and possibly the best views of the supermoon would be in the South Island.

Southern Marlborough, most of the Canterbury Plains, Canterbury High Country, Mt John Observatory, Southern Lakes, and also much of the West Coast up to Buller were expected to have relatively clear skies.

A lot of the North Island, however, was expected to be covered in cloud, with the best views likely in Porirua and up to Levin.

The next full moon was expected to take place on May 26, 2021, and this is also classed as a supermoon. But what's “particularly interesting” about this event is that there will be a total lunar eclipse that night at about 11pm, Steel said.

He adds that the eclipse should be visible throughout the country, and will appear more like “the colour of blood”.