A dazzling supermoon is set to converge with a partial lunar eclipse on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, in the Southern Hemisphere, the eclipse happened during daylight hours but Aussies can still stream it from the northern end of the globe.
But this means the supermoon will appear brighter in Australia, due to both the proximity of the moon to the horizon during its early moonrise peak, and because part of it will not fall under the Earth’s shadow as it would under a night-time eclipse.
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“The eclipse tonight will not be a total lunar eclipse so the moon won’t appear red, instead a portion of the moon will darken,” NASA project scientist Noah Petro said of the Northern Hemisphere eclipse experience.
As for when to best spot the Harvest Supermoon, stargazers Down Under should look skyward between roughly 6pm and 7pm, depending on where they live.
The different between a supermoon and a regular full moon is about 65,000km — a supermoon appears bigger than a regular full moon because its phase coincides with its closer orbit to the Earth, according to Time and Date.
That closer proximity is why the supermoon appears up to 17 per cent larger and up to 30 per cent brighter than a normal full moon, it said.
It also means the moon’s gravity is about 4 per cent greater, which can lead to higher-than-normal tides, informally known as king tides.
As for where the Harvest Supermoon gets its name, stargazers must look again to the Northern Hemisphere where the supermoon occurs just days out from the autumnal equinox when the harvest is traditionally honoured there.
European names for the moon also honour the fall harvest, including the “fruit moon” in a nod to the fruits that ripen as summer ends, and the “barley moon” to mark when the crop is collected from the fields, according to NASA.
Other monikers for September’s full moon — as used across various Indigenous tribes — include the “moon of full harvest” from the Hopi people, the “corn maker moon” from the Abenaki tribe, the “moon of the brown leaves” from the Lakota people, and the “autumn moon” from the Passamaquoddy tribe.
When and how to catch the supermoon in Australia
As long as the sky is clear, the moon will be so bright viewers should require nothing but their eyes to witness the spectacle.
Simply look to the east, the direction that the moon rises, just after sunset.
Here are the best times to catch the supermoon peak in Australia:
Brisbane — 5.53pm
Sydney — 6pm
Canberra — 6.09pm
Hobart — 6.16pm
Adelaide — 6.23pm
Melbourne — 6.26pm
Perth — 6.29pm
Darwin — 6.57pm
But even if clouds obscure the supermoon peak, experts say the beauty of the supermoon will still be visible for some time.
“There’s really three days when the full moon is going to be most beautiful,” NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry lab chief Noah Petro said.
“You’ll be treated to this beautiful sight in the sky, which is our moon hovering off in the distance.”
— With CNN
