The biggest “supermoon” in 70 years is set to light up the night sky tonight, says ANU astronomer Dr Brad Tucker.
“This supermoon is special as it is very close to the Earth, the closest in 70 years,” said Dr Tucker, of the ANU Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
“Perigee syzygy is the technical term, syzygy being straight alignment, but supermoon is easier to say.”
He said the moon doesn’t orbit Earth in a perfect circle and varied by about 50,000 km.
“This is the second of three supermoons in a row. The full moons of October 16, November 14 and December 14 are supermoons, but the November one is the ‘superest’ of the three,” he said.
Dr Tucker said while the perigee would occur at 12:53am AEDT on Tuesday, the best time to view the Supermoon was at sunset tomorrow.
“To view it best, you need a clear view to the eastern horizon.”
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