[Source: TVNZ]
The closest full moon of the year, a pink supermoon, will be visible in the sky above New Zealand tonight.
The moon reached its closest point to New Zealand at about 3.30pm today according to astronomer and director of Otago Museum, Ian Griffin.
The moon will become visible firstly in the eastern parts of the country at about 5.30pm.
Griffin says the moon will appear “nice and pink” as it rises due to the fact that it passes through “lots” of atmospheres.
He explains that the spectacular part of a rising supermoon is the “moon illusion” – where the moon looks larger than it really is against the backdrop of “things like trees and buildings”.
He says in fact, the moon is still the same size but the effect of the rising moon is pretty special.
Last year, while the country was in lockdown, there were two supermoons in March and April.
The next full supermoons are due to appear on May 26, when the distance between Earth and the moon will be 357,462 km and on June 24, when the distance will be 361,558 km, according to website, earthsky.org.
